


The Optimal Balance

by TheMightyFlynn



Series: 19 Years 'verse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 22:11:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 129,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5802097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMightyFlynn/pseuds/TheMightyFlynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having put Ginny's trial behind them, Harry and Draco now face having to blend their families. With four children, interfering parents, hectic work schedules and a supposedly well-meaning Astoria to deal with, however, this may turn out to be a little more difficult than they had first expected.</p><p>SEQUEL TO 19 YEARS AND 5 MINUTES LATER!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is a whole month later than I had wanted to post this, but here we are with the promised sequel. A few things before we begin:  
> 1\. Things are still insane here, so while I will try to post every Sunday, some chapters will probably be a little later than that.  
> 2\. There will be a tiny bit of switching later on in this fic. I don't want to spoil what happens, but thought I should warn, because there's people who don't like that :)
> 
> Hope you all like it! :D

Warm early morning sunlight turned the insides of Draco's eyelids a bright red as he leant forward, enjoying the sun. Salt was evident in the air, as were the smoky remnants of someone’s fire, but that wasn’t what he focussed on. What held him entranced was the utter silence surrounding him. There were no owls flitting around, hooting their arrival, no children yelling at each other, no Astoria nagging him to get out of the house more, no parents trying to force him to discuss the upcoming wedding plans, there was just… silence. It was the perfect start to the day.

 

A sound like a shuffled footstep from inside had him smiling. Taking a deep breath, Draco blinked his eyes open. The sight that greeted him caused his smile to widen: a short path lined with neat bushes stretched out before him, leading down to a private beach. The sun glinted off the water, telling him that it would be another hot day and that he should probably either get back inside before he burned, or cast a sunscreen charm. Reluctance to move from his spot against the railing of their resort held him where he was, however, despite the fact that he could now definitely hear Harry moving around inside. Instead, he allowed his mind to wander, a small smile still playing at the edges of his lips as his thoughts went automatically to Harry.

 

It was a Saturday, three days before Draco's thirty-eighth birthday and the first morning they had spent together in the entire nine months of their relationship when neither of them had any obligations to worry about. The reason was simple: Draco had requested an entire weekend away for his birthday, just the two of them. He had forbidden Harry to worry about the kids, or his new work obligations, or the public’s perception of either of them for the entire weekend. So far, it had worked well, with the two of them spending the previous day and night ‘christening’ the various rooms of their bungalow. Draco took another deep breath of the warm, salty air and let it out slowly. He would just have to wait and see whether Harry would be able to let go of all his worries.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Draco smiled as one of Harry’s arms wrapped around his middle. It took a few seconds, in which he heard Harry place something down on the coffee table behind him, but Harry’s other hand appeared before Draco's face holding a cup of hot tea. Draco's smile turned to a grin.

 

“It certainly is now.”

 

Harry’s hand disappeared the second Draco took the cup from him. The scent of chamomile tea drifted from behind him soon after, sending a rush of heat through his stomach. The chamomile scent was firmly associated with Harry in Draco's mind now and, along with a number of other things that reminded him of Harry, was completely capable of bringing forth memories that had the ability to embarrass him in public. The fact that everything associated with Harry in his mind was somehow linked to memories he really shouldn’t be thinking of in polite company was slightly annoying, especially when it was something as innocuous as tea. Harry’s fingers slid slowly down Draco's stomach, tracing a light pattern and capturing Draco's attention completely.

 

“I’m going to assume that it was my arrival and not the tea that makes it so good.”

 

Harry’s reply – murmured close to the back of Draco's neck – caused goosebumps to rise along his shoulders and a shiver to race down his spine. He grinned at the sensation before taking a sip of the sweet tea.

 

“Assume away.”

 

A low sound almost like a growl was Harry’s only response, causing Draco's grin to widen. Taunting Harry into a reaction had always been a source of entertainment for Draco and forming this relationship hadn’t changed that enjoyment. He paid close attention to the quiet grumbles Harry was letting out behind him for a few seconds, listening for any sign of true annoyance rather than just amusement, which was Harry’s reaction to Draco's teasing so often these days. Draco could have sworn he heard Harry threatening his various body parts before the sound of Harry’s cup hitting the table with a thunk reached his ears. Harry’s tea-warmed lips were on the back of Draco's neck within seconds, sending a shot of desire straight through him. He allowed his head to fall back onto Harry’s shoulder with a soft moan as Harry moved slowly around towards the pulse point in the side of his throat. _This_ was a much better way to start the day than tea.

 

“I really don’t think it’s much of a risk…” Harry’s free arm circled around Draco's stomach, his fingers tracing the line of his hipbone. “…to assume you’re happy to see me.” The fingers trailing along Draco's hipbone slid down into the waistband of his boxers. “In fact, I’d place money on it.”

 

Lost in the warmth of Harry’s arms and the high of desire that had steadily been building inside him, Draco found he couldn’t form the words to respond. The need of satisfaction was rising rapidly in his stomach, only adding to his difficulties in forming coherent speech. Harry’s lips sucked lightly on the pounding pulse on the side of his throat, one hand was rubbing small patterns over Draco's stomach and the other moved tortuously slowly along the inside of his hipbone. Any one of those things separately would normally have been enough to get him going, but when Harry truly put his mind to it, Draco knew he stood no chance whatsoever of being able to resist. He opened his mouth, but Harry chose that moment to wrap his hand around Draco's half-hard cock.

 

“No response for me, Draco?”

 

He wanted to respond; wanted to raise his head from Harry’s shoulder and meet him with just as much confidence as was in Harry’s voice. What happened, however, was that he huffed out the breath he had taken and pressed into Harry’s hands, silently requesting more. Harry’s responding chuckle vibrated through Draco as his lips slid down over his pulse to latch onto his shoulder. Draco blinked at the ceiling of the balcony, trying to regain enough control over himself to respond properly to Harry. His breath quickened as Harry’s teeth dug lightly into his shoulder.

 

“Harry…” This was nowhere near fast enough for Draco's current state of mind: the need building in his groin was demanding frantic and messy, not slow and composed. “Please…”

 

His voice was more breath than anything else and Draco scowled. Harry, on the other hand, just laughed.

 

“Don’t think, Dray. Just relax. I’ve got you.”

 

The slow slide of Harry’s hand over his cock had cleared Draco's mind of any rational thought so effectively that he had absolutely no problem obeying the demand that he not think. The reassurance and confidence in Harry’s voice helped Draco to be able to simply let go and he leant backwards, trusting that Harry would take care of him. This trust in Harry that he had developed was a new sensation for Draco in a relationship and it was one of the headiest things he had ever experienced. Of course, knowing that Harry reciprocated the feeling only made it all that much sweeter. Placing his teacup down on the railing in front of him, Draco raised one of his hands, tangled it through Harry’s hair and tugged gently in an attempt to move things along a little faster.

 

“Have I ever mentioned how good you taste?” Harry grinned against Draco's bare shoulder when Draco's only response was a huff of breath. “No? How about how good you _feel_?”

 

Draco squeezed his eyes shut tight as Harry’s hand slowed, depriving him of the already maddeningly slow stimulation. “No, no, don’t stop.”

 

Harry’s laugh vibrated through Draco once again as he slid his lips upwards to draw Draco's earlobe in between his teeth. “Stop what?”

 

His frustration building, Draco scowled. “I hate you.”

 

He drew in a sharp breath when Harry spun him around and pushed him up against the railing. The shattering of the ceramic cup as it fell off the railing went unnoticed as Draco took in the sight before him: Harry, naked and grinning; his eyes slightly unfocussed without his glasses, but dark with heat. Desire crashed through him, but he hesitated, wanting to see whether Harry had anything planned for him.

 

“Lose the boxers.”

 

There was a hint of command to Harry’s voice that Draco had only ever heard him use when he was speaking to people he expected to rush to do his bidding. It sent yet another shiver through Draco as he slid the boxers down and waited, now more than happy to allow Harry his fun. Drawing his bottom lip into his mouth, Harry nibbled on it for a few seconds as his eyes trailed down Draco's body. Draco's pulse jumped when Harry’s eyes met his again as he stepped forward. Tangling one hand into the hair at the base of Draco's neck, Harry pulled him forward until Draco could feel his breath brushing over his lips.

 

“Happy birthday, Dray.”

 

With that, Harry dragged Draco's bottom lip between his teeth and sucked gently. Draco's eyes fluttered shut and his hands clamped on Harry’s hips automatically, earning himself a low chuckle against his lips. Harry didn’t allow him much time to adjust, however, before he was moving, trailing his lips down Draco's throat. With his heart racing as it was and his breath coming in short gasps, Draco found himself reluctant to release his grip on Harry’s hips, but Harry forced the issue, moving rapidly down Draco's body. It was the idea of what he was about to receive that loosened Draco's grip.

 

“Harry…”

 

“Just relax.” The words were huffed over Draco's stomach as he finally allowed Harry to kneel before him. “Let me take care of you.”

 

Panting as he stared down at the top of Harry’s head, Draco's mind began to cloud with lust again. The first brush of Harry’s lips along his shaft had Draco's fingers automatically curling through Harry’s wild hair, pulling him closer. Harry only chuckled again and gripped Draco's hips, holding him steady.

 

Draco tried to stay still as Harry’s lips sealed around him – tried to not thrust into the heat surrounding him – but he knew he was doomed to fail. Harry’s technique had improved so much over the months they had been together and he knew exactly what to do to bring Draco to the brink so much faster than anyone else ever had. His grip on Harry’s hair tightened when Harry swallowed around him.

 

“Harry–”

 

Harry hummed, causing Draco's stomach muscles to clench. The rough side of Harry’s tongue rubbed over the underside of Draco's cock, sending sharp jabs of need through him. He could have sworn he felt Harry taking deep, slow breaths, but he couldn’t focus enough beyond the pleasure he was receiving to be certain. It wasn’t until Harry relaxed the muscles in his throat and took Draco in completely that he realised that he had been right. He groaned as his cock hit the back of Harry’s throat.

 

“Fuck… Fuck, I – I…”

 

Harry hummed and swallowed, nearly sending Draco over the edge. His hips jerked automatically before he could stop them, but Harry seemed to have been prepared for that. Pulling back, he rubbed his thumbs over Draco's hips and stared up at him expectantly. Taking it as the offer it obviously was, Draco got a better grip on Harry’s hair and began to thrust. The slide of Harry’s tongue over the thick vein on the underside of his cock was so different to the sensations Draco was used to that he knew he wasn’t going to last long.

 

He couldn’t spare the thought processes to care about that just then, however. The pressure inside him was building rapidly now, helped along by the fact that he could see himself sliding in and out of Harry’s mouth, his red lips stretched around his shaft. As much as he would have loved to prolong that sight, Draco knew he was right on the edge; all he needed was that one little push. His hips jerked, his thrusts becoming erratic as he reached for orgasm. It wasn’t until Harry’s finger pressed against his perineum that he reached it, however. Gasping as pleasure rushed through him, Draco's hips froze, emptying himself into Harry’s waiting mouth with a cry. Harry released him when he began to soften, moving backwards so Draco could fall to his knees.

 

“Draco…” Harry’s voice was low and rough as he gathered Draco to him. “Do you still hate me?”

 

Draco couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him at that. Turning his head where he was resting on Harry’s shoulder, he nipped at the racing pulse in the side of Harry’s throat. Harry’s sharp intake of breath had him smiling as a warm satisfaction with his lot in life settled over him.

 

“I’ve never been able to bring myself to hate you.” Harry stilled, but Draco ignored it in favour of focussing on getting what he was feeling out. “I’ve resented you.” He mumbled the lubrication charm and stroked his hand up Harry’s straining cock. “I’ve wanted to hex you senseless so many times I’ve lost count.” He twisted his wrist, testing out how close Harry was. The groan and jerk of Harry’s hips he received was enough for Draco to know he was quite close. “But I’ve never hated you, not even in school.”

 

“Draco…”

 

Harry grabbed Draco's hair and tugged up him into a harsh kiss. Draco's pace increased, causing the kiss to turn more into a battle to not allow Harry to bite him accidentally. Their teeth clacked together just before Harry broke the kiss with a deep moan.

 

“I love you, Harry.”

 

Harry’s eyes flew open, allowing Draco to see the second he tipped over into orgasm. Continuing to stroke as Harry’s cock spasmed in his hand, Draco simply watched as Harry’s expression changed. The brief shock that he had shown was replaced quickly with a pure bliss as he came, one that Draco knew he would never get sick of seeing. He gathered Harry into his arms and lay back on the wooden boards beneath them to allow him to ride out the comedown.

 

“Draco?”

 

Floating on his own little bubble of post-orgasmic pleasure, it took a while for Draco to realise Harry had spoken. “Hmm?”

 

“Love you, too.”

 

Draco smiled and tightened his grip around Harry in response. The thought that this little holiday away was the perfect way to celebrate his birthday drifted through his mind as he allowed the mindlessness to take him over again.


	2. Chapter 2

Wincing slightly as the owl sitting in front of him on the sand hooted softly, Harry waved the tip of his quill at it, hoping to get it to be quiet. He grinned when he was graced with a disdainful look. The letter he was attempting to respond to fluttered in a tiny breeze and Harry couldn’t help the slightly guilty look he shot to his left, where Draco lay sleeping under the canopy they had constructed on the beach. He had meant to leave his work at home, really he had, but he had had to leave an address where he could be reached if absolutely necessary and a bit of a calamity involving the family of one of the kids was definitely counted as absolutely necessary.

 

Harry had known that starting his own company wouldn’t be easy, especially with Draco telling him horror stories of trying to get his own off the ground in the beginning. What he hadn’t expected was for it to become so popular in such a short amount of time. He had set The JS Foundation up in early February and now, four months later, it had become the go-to place for children in crisis. The Foundation consisted of an orphanage, which was where Harry spent most of his time; a mental health facility, inspired by what James had had to go through when finding a therapist the year before; a medical centre with some of the best paediatricians Harry could afford; and a low-cost day-care facility. It had been a challenge trying to balance everything out, but Harry knew it would all be worth the trouble if he could help to lessen the suffering of a child in need.

 

That trouble was also exactly why he had agreed to this holiday so rapidly. An entire weekend alone with Draco with no obligations had sounded like paradise. Of course, the owl now shooting him dirty looks had not been part of that dream, but Harry figured that as long as he could answer this letter without waking Draco, he could just pretend it had never happened. A small sound from beside him put an end to that train of thought almost as soon as Harry had begun it.

 

“Which department needs your signature this time?”

 

Harry’s eyes closed at Draco's quiet question. He reached out automatically and ran his free hand down Draco’s spine to come to rest in the small of his back. The move sent a shiver through Draco, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin. Curling his fingers, Harry traced a light pattern over Draco's skin.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Draco huffed out a breath that, thankfully, sounded more amused than angry. “You need to learn to say no.” He turned onto his other side, his back facing Harry. “Tell Iris I said hi and invite her and the fiancé Tuesday night.”

 

The fact that Draco got along well with Harry’s new personal assistant had made his life a little easier, especially considering Ginny had never gotten along with any of his secretaries when he had been working for the DMLE. Of course, he now knew that that had been because she had thought he was playing around with them. Shaking his head, he finished the letter with the requested salutation and invitation to Draco’s formal birthday dinner that coming Tuesday. The owl nipped at his fingertips after he had secured the letter, then took off into the sky with a few powerful wing strokes. Harry closed his eyes to prevent the blown sand from getting into them before turning to glance over to where Draco lay.

 

The midday sun reflected off Draco's pale skin, the tiny breeze ruffled his hair, and the muscles along his back moved as he breathed deeply. Harry shook his head and smiled as warmth that had nothing to do with the summer sun washed through him. Nine months into their relationship and Draco's ability to turn him on hadn’t diminished in the slightest. He had had a couple of moments of pure panic when he had imagined that he was simply too difficult to please romantically; that the reason he had cheated on Ginny was more because he was bored with her than anything else. The sensations Draco was capable of making him feel had proven that theory wrong over and over again, though, which Harry was unbelievably thankful for.

 

Deciding to allow Draco to continue sleeping – or at least feigning sleep – Harry lay down on the sand to stare up at the canopy above him. His life since Ginny’s trial had been a mixed bag of annoyance and joy. Much to Harry’s surprise, his relationship with Draco was as strong now as it had ever been at the height of the stress, despite the fact that Draco had retained the ability to cause Harry to want to hex him into a tiny puddle of goo at a moment’s notice. How the hell it was possible for him to love someone so completely despite the irritation he caused him was beyond him. Allowing his mind to wander, Harry closed his eyes.

 

It landed, as it so often did these days, on his work. There was so much he had had to organise for the Foundation to just get it started that this holiday had been almost as much a present to him as it had been to Draco. It had been a struggle to even get permission to open something like the orphanage part of the Foundation, but stupid and pointless laws were what people like Kingsley had fought so hard against after the War had ended. After Kingsley had managed to overturn this particular stupid law, the next problem Harry had faced was gaining planning permission to do some construction on the building the Foundation was housed in. Not only had he had to gain permission from the Ministry to renovate the empty building he had purchased in Diagon, but he had also had to get permission to cast the permanent charms that would allow them to expand the space to what was required. Then there had been the worries from the Board of Directors of St. Mungo’s that he was trying to take work away from their Paediatric Department that he had had to contend with… He jumped and gasped as Draco's weight landed on his chest, dragging him from his thoughts.

 

“I thought I banned you from thinking about work this weekend?” Braced above Harry on his elbows, the edges of Draco's eyes crinkled a little as Harry took deep breaths to try to calm his racing heart. “Perhaps you need a reminder?”

 

The amusement he could see flashing through Draco's eyes caused Harry to grin. Running his hands up Draco's back spread sand all over him and made Draco arch his back, pressing him closer into Harry.

 

“Who says I was thinking about work?”

 

Draco frowned. “You had better not have been thinking about _me_ with that scowl on your face.”

 

Unable to help it, Harry chuckled as he leant up to nip at Draco's bottom lip. He was prevented from responding, however, when Draco closed the gap between them the rest of the way and sealed their lips together. Draco's lips were still salty from the swim he had had earlier, although the shorts he insisted on wearing despite the strong privacy charms had yet to dry. Harry had had very little luck in convincing Draco that it was perfectly alright for him to wander around their bungalow and private beach naked, which he considered a true shame. Tightening his grip on Draco's back, he shoved with his foot, rolling them over so he could break the kiss and stare down at Draco beneath him.

 

“You and work, is that all you believe I think about?”

 

Draco seemed to ponder the question for a few seconds, causing Harry to glare at him. The short laugh Draco let out before pulling Harry into another, much deeper kiss sent desire thrilling through him. Seeing Draco this relaxed – this free – was something Harry wouldn’t have given up for anything. The knowledge that he was one of the very few people to have ever been allowed to see this side of him was something that Harry prided himself on: Draco Malfoy trusted him enough to allow him to see past the snooty, cold exterior he showed the world. He knew that this part of Draco would disappear behind the shields he put up against the world the second they had to get back to reality the next day, so he drank it in while he could. He grinned into the kiss when Draco flipped them over again.

 

“Wait.”

 

Draco groaned, causing Harry to chuckle again. Quickly reaching to the side, he grasped his wand and waved it, casting the spells to both Vanish Draco's shorts as well as to charm the sand so it wouldn’t stick to them. Getting sand in such intimate places was something Harry absolutely refused to have to visit the hospital for.

 

Not giving Harry any time to do anything else other than toss his wand back to the side, Draco leant in to latch onto the pulse in the side of Harry’s throat. Harry tilted his head backwards, allowing Draco better access to his skin and earning himself an approving hum. The sound vibrated through him, adding to the desire that had been building for the past few minutes. He had no idea why, but there was simply something about having sex outside that turned Harry on so much faster than at any other time. He ran his hands up and down Draco's back in an attempt to encourage him to move a little faster.

 

“Patience, Potter.” Draco's lips trailed from Harry’s throat to the hollow at the base of his neck, where he sucked gently. “Good things come to those who wait.”

 

His mind buzzing with need, Harry let out a laugh that sounded completely breathless. He slid his hands down to squeeze Draco's arse.

 

“Prove it.”

 

It seemed, however, that Draco was going to stick to his guns this time. Harry’s skin was sucked, nipped at and pinched for longer than he thought he could hold on, with each little jab of pain and pleasure adding to his need. Draco managed to avoid hitting any of Harry’s hotspots, as well as completely ignoring his straining cock, which left Harry a frustrated, squirming mess after only a few minutes. It was impossible for him to lie still as Draco continued the slow torture, nibbling his way up Harry’s inner thigh. Spreading his legs caused Draco to chuckle, sending another jolt of pleasure straight to Harry’s cock.

 

“We are impatient today, aren’t we?”

 

“ _We_ are fucking frustrating.” Harry had absolutely no warning before Draco leant in to lick a stripe up his cock. His hips bucked almost more in surprise than pleasure. “ _Fuck_ , Draco… Please…”

 

Harry almost laughed with relief when Draco mumbled the preparation charms and moved to lie on top of him. His knees bent and he hooked his ankles around Draco's back, holding him in place this time. The desire he could clearly see in Draco's eyes when he met them had Harry smiling widely as he felt Draco pressing into him.

 

“Harry… Mmm, Gods…”

 

Draco's voice was rough. His eyes slid shut as he settled against Harry’s body and he bit down on his bottom lip, telling Harry that he was much more worked up than he had been letting on. Tracing a light pattern down Draco's back caused him to shudder and arch into him.

 

“Move.”

 

It seemed that Draco had been waiting for the command, as he pulled out and slammed back in rapidly. Harry’s breath hitched as pleasure rushed through him at the fast pace. Operating on instinct, his hands moved along Draco's back, scraping his nails down the soft skin. Harry’s own skin began to heat and tingle as Draco moved inside him, the desire and need building in him rapidly now. He nearly lost all control when Draco brushed against his prostate.

 

“Ohh, I…”

 

The thought was never finished, as Draco managed to hit his prostate properly in the next second. Harry’s back arched, lifting the both of them off the sand as pure pleasure shot through him.

 

“Come, Harry… Need you to…”

 

Draco's words cut off with a groan when Harry dug his nails sharply into his shoulders. Pulling him as close as he could get, Harry reached for orgasm, knowing he was close. Another hard hit to his prostate tipped him over the edge. Harry let out a sound that was half-groan, half-scream as he came, coating both of their stomachs with hot cum. As focussed on his own release as he was, it was almost a shock when Draco collapsed in a boneless heap on top of him. He automatically wrapped his arms around Draco's back, stroking his shoulders as he came down from the high.

 

“Harry?”

 

The tired-sounding whisper told Harry that Draco was on the verge of falling asleep on top of him, so he quietly cast the cleaning charms so they wouldn’t awake in a sticky mess. A small smile stretched the corners of his mouth when Draco wriggled so he was lying half-on, half-off of him, obviously getting comfortable.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“We should come back here for your birthday.”

 

Harry huffed out a small laugh. “Sex like that sounds like the perfect birthday present, actually.”

 

“Mmm, it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is an actual plot I have in mind for this fic, I swear! Starting them out with some smut was too tempting though ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The sudden drop in the temperature caused Draco's sinuses to throb the second they landed back in England on Monday morning. It brought back unpleasant memories, causing him to place the palm of his hand flat against the bridge of his nose and press, hoping to alleviate the pain. Harry’s hand landed in the small of Draco's back almost the second Draco closed his eyes, both guiding him along the path and offering a small amount of wordless comfort. Draco knew Harry worried about the lasting effects of the injury he had sustained the year before, but he was fairly certain that the times his sinuses throbbed like this were just sharp reminders of what had happened, rather than something to worry about. He thought of it being like an old injury that ached to let him know when rain was around. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on something else to distract himself.

 

His mind landed on the damnable English weather and he found himself incredibly grateful that he had thought to layer his robes on over the top of his normal clothing when his skin pimpled despite the fact that it was actually a clear and rather sunny day. As focussed as he was on both the sudden shock of pain and how cold he suddenly felt, he didn’t realise exactly where it was Harry had Apparated them to until he almost stumbled over an uneven pathing stone.

 

“Harry, where…?”

 

Lowering his hand, Draco trailed off as he took in the sight of the rolling hills of Ottery St. Catchpole stretching out before him. The Burrow squatted not that far off, surrounded by scraggly-looking chickens running between their pen and a wooden shed that had definitely seen better days. His footsteps slowed automatically as reluctance at seeing the Weasleys so soon after their holiday spread through him, but it was soon eased by the thudding footsteps of a small ginger whirlwind.

 

“Dad!”

 

Lily sprinted out of the house and down the path towards them, her hair flying out around her. Watching as Harry knelt and scooped Lily into his arms with a laugh, Draco couldn’t help grinning. A warmth that pulled him up short spread through him as Lily’s laugh joined Harry’s; it had only been two days since he had seen Lily, but he now realised that he had missed her much more than he had first expected to. Out of all four of their children, Lily had been the one constant source of support for the two of them, the only one to never really question Draco's role in Harry’s life. Not that he loved any of their boys any the less for it; nor could he blame Harry’s boys for their hesitation – or Scorpius’ over Harry – as he was fairly certain he would have had the exact same reaction had he been in their position. Lily’s immediate acceptance of both him and their relationship was something Draco would always be thankful for, however. She had managed to make his life a little easier as well as helping to ease her brothers into the transition. He automatically knelt down and spread his arms the second Harry released her.

 

“Hullo Draco.”

 

“Good morning, Princess.”

 

Lily giggled as she pulled back so she could hold him at arms’ length. The unusual sensation of being scrutinised so openly sent an involuntary shiver of worry down Draco's spine and his eyes flicked briefly up to Harry, who merely shrugged. Lily only studied him for a few seconds, however, before nodding in a businesslike way and patting his shoulders in a way that reminded him somehow of Molly Weasley.

 

“You look happy,” she announced with another satisfied nod. “Come inside; Grandma just made tea and we have biscuits and cake.”

 

Draco blinked after her with a slight shake of his head. Lily was one of the most unusual children he had ever met: mature beyond her years at times and giggly and childish at others. The different aspects of her personality always kept him on his toes, but he knew he wouldn’t want her to change. Harry was grinning at him when Draco stood and met his eyes.

 

“You do look happy,” Harry informed him. There was a sparkle to his eyes that held much more than simple happiness. “It suits you.”

 

With the Burrow in his sight just behind Harry, Draco knew he couldn’t afford to allow himself to give in to the warmth spreading through him. He knew that the Weasleys were Harry’s family and therefore wouldn’t do anything to him out of respect for Harry’s feelings – or at least he _hoped_ they wouldn’t – but that didn’t stop him from holding them at bay with the same shield of pride showed everyone else. The trust he had in Harry had taken a while to build and he was unsure if he would ever be able to bring himself to have the same kind of trust in the Weasleys. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, mentally building his Occlumency shields as he did, just in case. The small smile he offered Harry in return felt stiff.

 

“A bit of warning before we arrived here would have been nice.”

 

Harry grinned again. “Would you have come if I’d given you warning?”

 

Draco just barely resisted rolling his eyes as Harry’s hand landed on the small of his back, once again guiding him towards the house. “I wouldn’t have and you know it.”

 

“Exactly.” Harry stepped in front of him before Draco could enter the house. He placed his hands on Draco's shoulders, much in the same way as Lily had a minute before. “You and Scorpius are my family now just as much as Molly and Arthur and every single one of their children and grandchildren. Hell, I’ll even include Astoria in that equation if she ever wants to be included, considering the amount of encouragement she’s given you over the months. It would be nice if you could all get along some day.”

 

Choosing to ignore the shot of guilt the second part of what Harry had said sent through him, Draco did not resist rolling his eyes at Harry’s mention of Astoria. “There’s a difference between encouragement and interference, you know.”

 

His breath caught in his chest as Harry leant in close. The earlier sparkle to Harry’s eyes returned with a vengeance as his grin turned devious.

 

“Flourish and Blotts would never have happened if it wasn’t for her and _you_ would still be denying how much you want me.” One of Harry’s hands slid down so one finger could tap the centre of Draco's chest. “You can’t deny that.”

 

Draco knew Harry was right: if it hadn’t been for Astoria’s interference that day in Diagon Alley, he would have gone along with his plan to never see Harry again. Because of Astoria, Draco had been forced to confront what he had been feeling for Harry and their relationship had deepened. Not that he was willing to give Harry the satisfaction of admitting that, of course. He opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted.

 

“Da– _ad_!” The sound of Lily’s voice from inside the house had Draco stepping away from Harry and bowing his head as a slight blush turned his cheeks pink. “Come on, why are you still outside?”

 

She appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, hands on her hips. Harry seemed to not have been as embarrassed at almost being caught as Draco was, as he spun and scooped Lily into his arms again, tipping her upside-down.

 

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for school, miss?”

 

Lily kicked her legs until Harry righted her, giggling all the while. “Grandma said I could wait until you and Draco got home.”

 

“Well…”

 

Harry placed Lily down and spread his hands to his sides, leaving his meaning open for interpretation. Draco could see the disappointment that filled her eyes as she stared up at her Father and it was all he could do to just stay quiet. He was now in complete sympathy with Harry for being unable to say no to Lily on certain things, especially when confronted with her wide brown eyes staring up at him like he had just murdered her favourite Crup. He knew that Lily knew exactly how to play the both of them to get her own way and that he really shouldn’t find it amusing when he saw Harry slipping, but he couldn’t help the smile that threatened to break on his face when Lily hung her head and bowed her shoulders.

 

“But I…” She sighed. “Do I really have to? Can’t I just stay with you?” Turning her gaze on Draco, she added a slight tremble to her voice. “Please?”

 

“Don’t let her fool you.”

 

Draco nearly jumped at the sound of the amused voice from behind him. Taking a steadying breath, he spun to see Percy making his way up the path leading from the village, a cup of takeaway coffee in his hand and a pleasant smile on his face. Draco immediately pushed the warmth and ease he always felt around Harry and Lily as far to the back of his mind as he could manage, effectively closing Percy out. Percy seemed to either not notice or not care about the change in Draco's demeanour, however, which Draco found himself thankful for.

 

“She and Hugo have been trying to convince every single member of the family who have shown up over the weekend that they can have today off school. Draco.” Percy didn’t break stride as he nodded to Draco and slapped a hand down on Harry’s shoulder in greeting. “Harry.”

 

Percy Weasley had always been a hard one to figure out for Draco. He knew that Percy sympathised with Harry over the way he had been treated by the family after the mess with Ginevra had come to light, but whether that sympathy had developed into support of the both of them was another question entirely. He absentmindedly frowned after him as Percy disappeared into the house.

 

“Keep scowling like that and you’ll get wrinkles.”

 

“Bite me, Potter.” Narrowing his eyes at Harry’s responding chuckle, Draco offered up a bland smile to Lily, who was watching the whispered interaction closely. “You mentioned cake?”

 

A sense of unease spread through Draco as he entered the house behind Harry. Whether it was due to his knowledge of the damage he had caused the various occupants of the house over the years, or the lingering resentment between him and Ronald, he had no idea, but there was simply something that had his muscles tensing every time he entered the house. He took a deep breath and tightened his shields as he followed Harry into the kitchen.

 

_You can do this,_ he told himself firmly as his senses were assaulted by some wonderful scents.

 

“Harry, we’ve been expecting you. I – Oh!” Molly stopped halfway through pulling a chair out for Harry at the table next to Lily. “Draco. It’s always nice to see you too, dear, of course. Come, come; take a seat, have something to eat.”

 

The change in Molly’s attitude when she had spotted Draco standing behind Harry was obvious to Draco, although whether Harry had noticed it was up for debate. Smiling and laughing with Lily, Harry reached across the table and pulled the various plates towards himself, filling his plate with delicious-smelling food as well as Draco's. Discovering that it wasn’t actually necessary for him to respond to whatever it was Harry was blathering on with, Draco allowed his mind to wander as he ate, going over his current position in Harry’s life.

 

The Weasleys were always going to be a part of Harry’s life, Draco knew that and knew it would never change. Nor would he ever want it to change; he knew how vital a good support system was. The problem he faced was whether he would ever be able to convince the Weasleys both that he would never intentionally hurt Harry – which he was sure was at least part of why he was finding it difficult to get to know them – and that he had changed from the selfish, cruel boy he had been in school. He knew buying his way into being accepted probably wouldn’t work, as each of Molly and Arthur’s children had managed to find well-paying jobs after the War. Perhaps he could work on them individually, rather than as one? Bill and George, unfortunately, seemed to be lost causes when it came to him, but the others had potential, especially Percy…

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco almost jumped when Harry touched his forearm to get his attention. He cleared his throat and blinked his eyes to refocus. Molly had seated herself across from he and Harry at the table while he had been lost in thought, as had Percy. Realising just how rude he must have come across, Draco’s eyes closed briefly. No matter how much he may dislike and distrust the two people before him, there was never an excuse for being undeservedly rude to someone in their own home. Fighting back a blush, he turned to Harry beside him.

 

“Yes?”

 

“We were just discussing all the birthdays we have coming up and wondering whether we should just have one big celebration for them all together. That way we could have smaller, more private parties with our other friends and family members.”

 

Draco's mind raced. He knew from what Harry had told him that Percy’s birthday was maybe in the middle of August. Lily would never allow him to forget that hers was at the very end of August; she had been giving him and Harry ‘subtle’ hints at what she wanted for nearly a month now. Harry’s, of course, was at the end of July. He was just about to ask if he was missing anyone when Molly spoke up quietly.

 

“Obviously Ginny won’t be able to attend anything this year, but it would be so nice if the children…”

 

She trailed off as Harry stiffened. Watching him from as closely as he was, Draco couldn’t have missed the mix of emotions that crossed Harry’s face if he had wanted to. Disbelief seemed to be the prominent one as he stared at Molly, but Draco also caught a glimpse of an anger that he knew Harry would be fighting against showing. As subtly as he could, he slipped a hand beneath the table, placing it on Harry’s thigh to try to prevent him from doing anything rash.

 

“As always, Molly, _if_ my children choose to visit their Mother, we will let you know.” Shoving Draco's hand off him, Harry stood. “Lily, do you have your things packed?”

 

“Harry–”

 

“I’m sorry, Molly, but both Draco and I have work to get along with and Lily has to go to school. If you’ll excuse me.”

 

There was a tightness to Harry’s voice that betrayed his anger to anyone who cared to listen. He turned and almost stomped out of the kitchen, leaving Draco seated at the table with Percy and a shocked-looking Molly. Pushing his chair back softly, he nodded his head to the both of them before turning to exit the room.

 

“Draco?”

 

Molly’s voice was thick; it was obvious she was holding back tears. Pausing in the doorway, Draco braced himself for what was coming.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

He stood still, waiting for her to explain or elaborate. When all she did was dab at her eyes, he frowned.

 

“You have nothing to apologise to _me_ for.” It was unsubtle and childish, but this wasn’t the first time Molly had suggested something of the sort and Draco knew that it wouldn’t be the last. He glanced over to the front door as it banged shut. Sighing as he heard Molly sniffle, he turned back to her and summoned all of the Malfoy-bred politeness he could muster. He _could_ do this. “I’ll speak to him.”

 

It was all he could offer, as he knew that Harry would never force any of the children to visit Ginevra if they didn’t want to. He nodded again in farewell and made his way out of the house towards the Apparition point. Harry and Lily were nowhere to be seen, so Draco took a guess and Apparated straight to Grimmauld.

 

“Come on, Lil.”

 

Draco followed Harry’s voice up the stairs and along the hallway to the doorway to Lily’s bedroom. He found Harry leaning on the doorjamb, his shoulders still stiff. Placing a hand gently on Harry’s back caused him to jump, but Draco didn’t allow him to flinch away.

 

“I need a word.”

 

Without even glancing back to see whether Harry was following him, Draco made his way into the drawing room just down the hall. It became obvious that Harry had followed him in a matter of seconds, however, as the door slammed shut and Draco felt a Silencing charm being cast. He turned to face Harry, ready to have it out with him over what had just happened.

 

“How the _fuck_ can she think that I would agree to something that _stupid_?” The shouted words were accompanied by a wave of Harry’s hand, causing a vase to smash against the far wall. “James is still in therapy and Lily is clingy and nervous about being left alone. How can she want them to _visit_ that bitch?”

 

Watching as Harry’s eyes slid closed and he ran his hands through his hair, Draco shook his head. He knew he had a choice to make here: either he could further damage Harry’s opinion of Molly by agreeing with him and voicing opinions that he knew he shouldn’t, or he could lie and inform Harry that Molly had apologised. As incredibly tempting as it was to take the first choice, he knew he couldn’t; knew he had to continue to take the high road when it came to the Weasleys. Moving quietly up behind Harry, he wrapped him in his arms and placed a soft kiss on the back of his neck.

 

“She wanted me to apologise to you for her.” Harry scoffed, but relaxed back into the embrace, causing Draco to smile against his skin. “You knew going into this that it would take a lot of effort.”

 

Harry was silent for a few seconds. “All I want is for the kids to be safe and happy.”

 

Draco's chest ached in sympathy at the tired tone to Harry’s voice. Tightening his grip around Harry caused Harry to adjust his position so Draco could comfortably bury his nose into the hair at the base of his neck. Harry’s scent washed through Draco, sending a delightful shiver through him, but he pulled back, ignoring the want that washed through him.

 

“No one would deny you that, not even Molly.”

 

“Are you actually standing up for her?”

 

Draco huffed out a small sound that was part-sigh, part-laugh. “You love Molly and Arthur like they are your real parents. I wouldn’t want you to be deprived of that relationship just because Molly is a bit careless sometimes when it comes to Ginevra.”

 

Harry sighed before spinning around in Draco's arms. He slid his hands up Draco’s chest, a small smile touching his lips. “I love you.”

 

Draco mock-scowled, causing Harry to grin. “You had better after putting me through all of this.”

 

Harry’s laugh echoed back to Draco as he cancelled the Silencing charm and exited the room. Standing where he was for a time, Draco took a few seconds to take in everything that had happened over the course of the morning. It seemed to him that, no matter how much he loved Harry, this relationship was going to prove to be challenging from all fronts. If it wasn’t the media harassing them, it was one of the children having issues; if it wasn’t their families’ disapproval, it was society. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Draco allowed himself another small smile. He would deal with it, though; he _could_ deal with it. What he had with Harry was worth it all.


	4. Chapter 4

Tuesday morning saw Draco waking much later than he usually did – closer to seven than five. It was a strange feeling but, he reasoned, if he couldn’t indulge himself on his birthday, when could he? Stretching languidly, he smiled.

 

This year was the first time in his life that he was to be celebrating his birthday with a real partner. Sure, every other year he had always found what he had needed in that moment, but he knew that this year was going to be different. This year there would be no subtle owls sent to organise a time and place to meet, there would be no impatient glances to the clock at his birthday dinner, waiting for the moment he could slip out; there certainly wouldn’t be any hurried blowjobs or frantic, messy sex in the restaurant bathrooms. At least, not unless he could convince Harry.

 

The idea of frantic, messy sex in a bathroom brought back memories that had Draco smiling again. His mind began to race through ways he could convince Harry that no one would either notice or care if they left the party a little early that night as he flipped over onto his back and threw an arm out, searching for Harry’s warmth. It was when he hit nothing but cool sheets that he registered the sound of the shower coming through the closed bathroom door.

 

Draco's smile widened as images of a naked and dripping wet Harry replaced excuses to leave his birthday dinner early in his mind. He knew they didn’t have that long before Lily would wake on her own, but surely they had long enough for a little birthday shower sex, right? His blood beginning to thrum faster through his veins at the thought, he slid his hand down to his already-interested cock as he made his way silently into the bathroom.

 

Harry was standing in the spray, soap suds washing down his back and over his arse. The sight stoked the fire beginning to burn in Draco's stomach, causing the desire to simply throw open the door and take Harry there and then to spread through him. Steam fogged the glass of the shower as Draco stepped forward as quietly as possible, blocking his view of Harry. He immediately cast a silent charm to un-fog the glass before sliding the door open and wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist.

 

“Wha– Draco?”

 

“You were expecting someone else?” Draco’s lips connected with the back of Harry’s neck as he pressed as close as possible, pushing Harry closer to the now-clear glass. A slight movement caught his attention before he could move further, causing him to glance up. He was met by the sight of the two of them reflected in the full-size mirror across the room, now also clear and fog-free thanks to the charm. He grinned. “Have you ever watched yourself, Harry?”

 

“Watched? What…?” Harry trailed off with a huff of breath when Draco nodded to the mirror. “No.”

 

The word was almost whispered, causing Draco's grin to widen. Adjusting his position against Harry’s back, he trailed a hand down to wrap around Harry’s hardening cock.

 

“Do you want to?”

 

The groan Harry gave was more than enough of a response for Draco. It vibrated through his chest, sending shivers tingling across his skin. Mumbling the lubrication charm gave Draco a handful of lube so he could continue stroking along Harry’s cock with the aim of forcing more of those delicious groans from him. He glanced up every few seconds between nibbling and sucking on the skin of Harry’s neck, watching Harry watching the mirror. It was a truly beautiful sight, seeing Harry’s hands clenching against the glass and watching as his body moved in an automatic attempt to gain more friction. Unable to help it, Draco shifted his position so he could rub himself between Harry’s cheeks every time he rocked his hips forward.

 

“Fuck… Draco…”

 

Draco hummed. “Finally found a bit of a kink of yours, have I? I knew there had to be one there somewhere.” His breath stuttered a bit as Harry arched his back, pressing firmly into him. Draco's voice was rough when he managed to continue through the jolts of lust hitting him. “Not that I blame you; I’ve yet to grow sick of watching you either.”

 

Harry let out a sound close to a whimper when Draco's hand stilled, his thumb circling around the head of his cock. “Please…”

 

Another quick look into the mirror showed that Harry’s forehead was resting on the glass, his breath misting on it before swiftly being removed by the charm. Licking his lips, Draco trailed his eyes down Harry’s body, taking in the scars and his dark treasure trail before his gaze fell to where his hand was holding Harry’s cock. A quick stroke down to the base had Harry pressing back into him even further, sending yet another wave of pleasure through him.

 

“Open your eyes.”

 

Harry obeyed almost immediately, meeting Draco's eyes in the mirror. Holding Harry’s gaze, Draco murmured the preparation charm before moving his hands to steady Harry’s hips. Harry’s eyes closed briefly again when Draco slid inside him, his mouth opening on another groan. It was only a few seconds before Harry met his gaze again in the mirror, his eyes glazed and mouth still open as he panted.

 

“What are you waiting for?”

 

There was a challenge to Harry’s voice that Draco had never been able to turn down. Pulling out, he thrust back in hard, knowing instinctively that this was what Harry was asking for. Harry’s responding groan proved him right. Gripping Harry’s hips, Draco fell into a quick rhythm, watching the mirror the whole time. Harry seemed to be just as fascinated with watching himself as Draco always was, his eyes not closing again as Draco moved inside him.

 

“I– I–” Harry stuttered out, his hands clenching against the glass.

 

“Touch yourself.”

 

Harry’s eyes met his in the mirror again at the command and Draco unflinchingly held his gaze as he continued to move, completely unashamed of knowing exactly what he wanted. Draco knew he had to keep his hands on Harry’s hips to steady them on the tiles and the idea of watching as Harry stroked himself was too tempting to pass up. He smiled at the jolt of need that arced through his stomach when he saw Harry’s hand sliding down the glass to grip his leaking cock.

 

Draco knew that the fire now raging in his stomach wouldn’t be denied for much longer, so he angled his hips, aiming for Harry’s prostate. The look of combined shock and pleasure that crossed Harry’s face when he managed to hit it was something Draco had seen many times over, but the extra jolt of desire that shot through him when he saw Harry still watching himself reacting in the mirror was completely new. The pleasure that flashed across Harry’s face as he gripped his cock tightly in response had Draco’s hips faltering and his breath hitching. He tightened his grip on Harry’s hips again and aimed, thrusting straight at his prostate.

 

“Dr – aco… _Fuck_ …”

 

Keeping his eyes locked on the mirror, Draco watched as Harry came completely undone. Harry’s hand gripped his spasming cock, stroking rapidly as his orgasm hit, his mouth open in a silent scream. The clenching of Harry’s muscles dragged Draco's orgasm out of him. His hips continued to jerk as he came deep inside Harry, his eyes still locked on the mirror. Draco only vaguely registered sliding out of Harry and down to the floor of the shower, his breath coming in harsh pants as he rode out his afterglow. Harry’s rough voice next to him brought him back to reality.

 

“It would be tacky to have a mirror installed on the canopy of the bed at Grimmauld, wouldn’t it?”

 

Draco chuckled. “I refuse to sleep in anything that even remotely resembles a whorehouse.”

 

Harry grinned at him before moving so he could press their lips together. “It wasn’t sleeping beneath it I was suggesting.”

 

“Who knew the prim and proper Auror had such a deviant side to him?” Draco let out a laugh when Harry dug a finger into his side. “The press would truly be shocked, I’m sure.”

 

“ _Ex_ prim and proper Auror, thank you very much,” Harry grumbled before moving so he was half lying on Draco's chest. “Besides, you’re were the one who corrupted me.”

 

Draco couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile that spread across his face as he tilted Harry’s head so he could kiss him properly. “I’d do it all again as well.”

 

*~*

 

Cold water dripped from Harry’s hair down the back of his shirt, sending a shiver through him as he made his way slowly towards his office. He knew he should have used a charm to dry his hair, but the damp reminder of what he and Draco had gotten up to that morning had him on the verge of grinning like an idiot. That day was his first proper full day back from the weekend – having just popped in the day before to take care of the mail before Iris had shooed him out – and he knew that there was going to be a lot to take care of.

 

“Harry, good to see you! Could I have a word?”

 

Harry refocussed as the loud voice of the Head of his Medical Division echoed out of the staffroom he had just passed. Backing up a few steps, Harry plastered a friendly smile on his face as he stuck his head around the doorway.

 

“We have an inter-departmental meeting scheduled in forty-five minutes, Catriona, could it wait until then?” Harry had to bite back a smile as Catriona’s deep brown eyes narrowed at him. “I swear everyone will get their say, it’s just easier to allocate funds if we all know what they’re needed for.”

 

Catriona Allaway had been the only person on Harry’s list of who to hire to run the Medical Division of the Foundation. Nearing fifty, she had developed a sterling reputation over the years she had spent working for St. Mungo’s. ‘Strict but caring’ was the way Harry had heard her described the most, which was exactly what he had needed to help get the Foundation off the ground. Truth be told, she was one of the few people Harry had immediately felt intimidated by with her fiery red curls that formed a helmet and scowl seemingly permanently in place. He grinned when she nodded sharply.

 

“Great, I’ll see you then.”

 

His mind now firmly locked into work-mode, Harry made his way down the hallway towards his office. This part of the complex that formed the Foundation was reserved for the offices of the Heads of the four different divisions – Medical, Psychological, Orphanage and General Care – as well as Harry’s office, the staffroom, kitchen, and a general conference room. Each of the four sections were then divided up into different departments with their own specialities and Head of Department. Catriona’s experiences at St. Mungo’s had made her the perfect candidate to run an entire division of the Foundation, making Harry incredibly thankful that she had been looking to move on at just the moment when he had been searching for someone to fill the position. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to manage the amount of things Catriona seemed capable of handling almost in her sleep.

 

“Harry!” Iris ran up to him the second he rounded the corner to the waiting room where her desk sat, guarding his door from unwanted visitors. “Thank God you’re here. I know you dealt with the mail yesterday, but apparently somewhere in the paperwork from the weekend is an urgent message from the Minister.” Iris placed her hand in the small of Harry’s back and practically shoved him into his office. “I’ve been getting owls from the Ministry all morning since I arrived at eight. _Please_ can you find out what they need and tell them to stop bombarding me?”

 

Harry couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face as he turned towards his desk. It seemed his lot in life to continue to run across incredibly strong-willed women who thought nothing of ordering him around. He took a breath and let it out slowly as he sank into his chair. The inbox on his desk was so full it was overflowing, the blinds that he normally left open had been closed – probably by the cleaning staff, he figured – and an innocuous-looking box that sat on the top right corner of his desk shook ominously every few seconds. He grinned. It was good to be back.

 

Ordering things in his mind, Harry set about putting the now forty minutes he had left until the staff meeting to good use. He firecalled Kingsley first only to discover that the supposed ‘bombardment’ Iris had been receiving had been three messages by the overly-enthusiastic Geoffrey, Kingsley’s secretary. Harry made an appointment to meet with Kingsley later in the week and moved on.

 

The box turned out to contain a Howler, which Harry simply rolled his eyes at as it screeched at him. People were certainly getting much more creative with their abuse, but Harry had learned to ignore it all. He honestly couldn’t give a shit if some idiot thought he shouldn’t have any influence whatsoever simply because he had fallen for Draco. It had surprised Harry at first, how strong the prejudice against Draco and his fellow ex-Death Eaters still was – it had been over twenty years now, after all – but Draco seemed to take it all in his stride. Still, Harry protected him from the worst of the abuse that had been flung at him because of their relationship; there was no reason Draco should be subjected to it all as well.

 

A sharp rap on his door just as he was nearing the bottom of his inbox told Harry that his time had run out. He called out an acknowledgement to Iris before charming the inbox so that anything new that came in while he was in the meeting would move to the bottom of the pile. Gathering his wand, a cup of chamomile tea and a collection of papers he thought he might need, he shuffled it all over to a hidden door beside the fireplace that led into the conference room next door.

 

Bright and cheery, the conference room generally contradicted the moods of the people who used it most often. Harry offered up a small smile to Catriona, who entered the room just as he did, but received only a raise of an eyebrow in response. Resisting the urge to shrug, Harry dumped his papers on the small table at the front of the room and settled in to wait for the other three Heads. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long.

 

Angus Milligan and Dorian Fairchild – the Heads of Psychology and General Care respectively – entered the room together, their heads bent in conversation. They both nodded to Catriona before taking chairs across the room from her. Vivian St Clair entered the room a few seconds after the two men, holding her head high and meeting Harry’s eyes confidently as she took the seat in between the others. Harry had gotten in touch with her after she was recommended to him by Gabrielle Delacour and had actually managed to steal her away from the orphanage she had been working at in France, much to her ex-employer’s irritation.

 

Harry smiled as the others settled themselves. There was always an air of tension when the four of them were in the same room together, but Harry knew they only had the children’s best interests at heart. He cleared his throat for their attention.

 

“Good morning, everyone. How were your weekends?”

 

“ _We_ were all here yesterday, Harry.”

 

Harry chuckled and shook his head as Dorian waggled his eyebrows at him. “I was here,” he protested. “I checked my mail, then went back home is all. Can’t a man holiday without being nagged?”

 

The relaxed tone the exchange set seemed to relieve some of the tension in the room. Organising the budget for the month had never been one of Harry’s favourite things to do, but it was something he knew had to happen and he would much rather have a hand in where the money went rather than trust it all to an accountant. That way he knew that the funds would be put to the best use they could be rather than just split four ways and have the Heads told to make do.

 

In all honesty, Harry knew that his main role in these meetings was as peacekeeper: all he really had to do as the others battled between themselves was keep them from hexing each other. He sat back and allowed them to debate each other, listening to each of their arguments carefully as they stated them so he could make an informed decision when they finally allowed him a say. He already knew that Dorian needed money for some new equipment for the day-care centre and that the others were going to try to verbally beat him into taking close to half of what he was asking for; that was the way things played out nearly every time Dorian asked for funds for something for the day-care. They were just starting in on him when Harry interrupted.

 

“You haven’t had an upgrade to the play equipment yet, have you?”

 

“Harry, you can’t be thinking of actually giving him–” Catriona’s mouth snapped shut when Harry raised a hand.

 

“Shoddy play equipment just means that your department will have more patients to look after. And probably a lawsuit for me.”

 

The room fell silent for only a few seconds before they started again. Harry grinned as he leant back into his chair: he had missed working fulltime.

 

The meeting stretched longer than usual that day and Harry’s stomach was growling by the time they finished. It seemed that everyone had mostly gotten what they wanted, although the three were still muttering about Dorian receiving the full amount of funding he had asked for. Harry’s mind slid to what food he had stored away in his cooler in the office, but he knew that there was something he had to deal with first.

 

“Vivian,” he called just as she was exiting the room. “Can I have a word?”

 

A tall and curvy brunette, Vivian was the kind of woman that Harry would have once tried to convince himself he found attractive. She held herself with a quiet dignity that belied the fire he had seen her display in the monthly meetings. Her head held high, she refused to meet the eyes of the others as they filed past her out the door. Harry shook his head and smiled to himself. Yes, once he would have decided that the strength he admired in her was attraction, but these days he knew better. He much preferred blonds now, anyway. He cleared his throat and forced his features into a hopefully professional smile as Vivian stopped a few steps from him.

 

“How is the girl you messaged me about over the weekend?”

 

“Ah, Penelope.” Vivian ducked her head and leant back against the backrest of the chair behind her, seeming to collect her thoughts before speaking again. “You know that she is one of the ones who was delivered here by the Aurors, yes?”

 

Harry nodded silently. He made it a point to read as many of the profiles of the children in the orphanage as possible. Not only was it good practice in case one of them was prone to causing trouble, but he also liked to spend whatever spare time he found himself with at work splitting it between the children in the orphanage and those in the medical wards.

 

“Well, her parents were released over the weekend. Apparently the Aurors didn’t have enough to charge them with, so they were released with a tracking spell on them. They decided that it was a good idea for them to come collect _their little darling_ , in their words.” Vivian rolled her eyes in obvious scorn and Harry couldn’t help but agree: any child who had been taken from their parents by the Auror Department was much better off without them. “Spells were cast, threats were issued and the poor child witnessed it all.”

 

Harry shook his head. Scrubbing a hand along the back of his neck, he sighed.

 

“Alright. You may need to work with Angus on this one. Penelope probably needed some form of psychological help before this happened and we can certainly provide it now. Do you think between you and Angus you could work out a schedule for her to stick to?”

 

It wasn’t much, but it was a beginning. Harry knew that there was no point in trying to force the poor kid into a regular routine, as she had probably never had one to begin with. The best they could do at that moment was to make sure she was healthy – both mentally as well as physically – and safe. He exchanged the apparently required niceties with Vivian before parting with a promise to visit later in the day. Making his way back into his office, his mind was full of what he needed to get done before he could go meet Penelope and assess her for himself.

 

He shook his head again as he settled back into his chair behind his desk. As disheartening as this work usually was, he knew that starting the Foundation had been the right thing to do. At least now children like Penelope had somewhere to go; somewhere safe.


	5. Chapter 5

_The Blue Terrace of Chez Mercier._

_6:30._

_I’ll be waiting. Don’t be late._

 

Draco stared down at the now incredibly crumpled note that he had been holding in his clenched fist for the past hour as he waited in the lobby of Chez Mercier. He had been expecting Harry home from work at his usual hour but had received the note from a harried-looking owl instead. The untidy scrawl was definitely Harry’s, he had no doubt of that. What he didn’t know was what the hell Harry thought he was doing: the holiday had been his birthday present, he hadn’t been expecting anything else. He had never really handled surprises well and to have this one sprung on him completely out of nowhere had set him slightly off-balance. Nerves had been fluttering through his stomach since he had read the note and they had only increased with the passage of time.

 

“Ah, Monsieur Malfoy. How good to see you again.”

 

Draco's head snapped up and the hand holding the note automatically clenched behind his back at the sound of Thierry Didier’s voice. Tall and thin with a head full of thick black hair that Draco was certain couldn’t be natural at his age, Thierry ran Chez Mercier with a precision Draco had come to rely upon over the years. It was rare that he could be guaranteed absolute privacy at a restaurant in London – especially these days – and Chez Mercier was one of the best, all thanks to Thierry.

 

“Monsieur Didier. It’s good to be back,” Draco responded with a small tilt of his head. “I believe you may have the Blue Terrace reserved?”

 

“Oh, yes,” Thierry responded with a knowing smile. He gestured off to his right, indicating that Draco should follow him as he walked. “The Blue Terrace is the most popular romantic rendezvous location in the city for the discerning customer, Monsieur Malfoy. It has seen the start of innumerable successful marriages, you know.”

 

Draco couldn’t resist narrowing his eyes as a suspicious tingle ran down his spine. It was common knowledge in the wizarding world by that time that he and Harry were engaged, so why Thierry would bother mentioning marriage was beyond him. He cleared his throat softly as they passed the already-crowded dining room.

 

“Harry and I are already engaged, Thierry, as I am sure you are well aware.”

 

Stopping outside a discreet door designed to blend in with the cream-coloured wallpaper, Thierry offered up a knowing smile. “True, but even the strongest of relationships can use an occasional boost in the romance department, yes?” Bowing deeply, Thierry tapped his wand on the lower corner of the door, causing it to swing inwards. “Merely tap your wand on the handle of the door to re-open it when you are ready to join your regular companions, Monsieur Malfoy.”

 

Standing and watching as Thierry departed, Draco took a slightly shaky breath. Thierry was correct in one thing, at least: the Blue Terrace – so named because of the shadows the moon cast over almost the entire area – was well-known to offer the most romantic atmosphere in all of London. Draco moved slowly, taking in the Victorian-era buildings surrounding the terrace, the vines creeping up the sides of said buildings, the low bushes that Draco knew hid secluded nooks for lovers to sequester themselves away and, finally, the magnificent view of London. Coming to a stop in the middle of the terrace, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to settle the fluttering of his stomach.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Draco.”

 

Draco turned to his right, towards Harry’s voice. His mouth opened to begin to question him, but he found himself rendered speechless by the sight before him. Harry’s robes were folded over the arm of a stone bench, leaving Harry standing before him in an obviously bespoke suit. Pitch black and cut to perfection, it hugged him in all the right places: the jacket accentuated Harry’s shoulders and trim waist, leaving Draco with the rather desperate desire to see if the trousers fit just as well; the deep purple tie Harry had teamed with all the black both emphasised his eyes and caused Draco to wonder which female Harry had convinced to go shopping with him as he knew that there was no way he had chosen something like that himself. It all combined to send a tingle of desire through Draco that normally would have made him incredibly uncomfortable to be feeling in public. Standing in the seclusion of the terrace as they were, however, the thought of trying to suppress the emotions didn’t even cross Draco's mind. Harry was wearing a self-satisfied smile when Draco finally managed to meet his eyes.

 

“Like what you see?”

 

Ducking his head to help prevent himself from giving in to the urge to smile, Draco instead produced the note from behind his back. It didn’t take him long to conquer the urge. Harry was still smiling at him in a knowing way when Draco straightened and cocked an eyebrow at him.

 

“What is this?”

 

“A note. You, by the way, are late.”

 

“Late?” Draco's eyes flicked to the clock mounted on the wall near the hidden door and he couldn’t help scoffing. “One and a half minutes is hardly late, Potter; not when it was caused by the walk through the restaurant you summoned me to with no notice.”

 

Draco took a half-step forward, the note still grasped between his raised fingers. The widening of Harry’s smile stopped him in his tracks, however. Suspicion crept down his spine, sending a shiver through him as he quickly ran through a list of reasons Harry could have for wanting him there at a particular time. The only conclusion he could come up with, though, was that whatever it was Harry was up to, it apparently hadn’t been _just_ booking the Blue Terrace; there must have been another reason they were there.

 

“Actually, in this case, _Malfoy_ , late is late.”

 

Harry’s emphasis of Draco's surname caused one side of Draco’s mouth to twitch into a half smile. He knew Harry didn’t appreciate him using his surname instead of his given name; Draco generally only used it when he was annoyed because of this. Besides the small verbal reprimand, however, Harry seemed content to ignore it.

 

Raising his wand and flicking it through the air in a pattern Draco was unfamiliar with, Harry smiled. Draco watched closely, knowing that this was probably going to reveal why Harry had called him to the restaurant early. Having to resist the urge to hold his breath in anticipation, Draco almost missed the soft strains of music that filled the terrace a few seconds later. The song was nothing Draco recognised, but that wasn’t what he focussed on: there were no musicians in sight and Draco knew that the house band was nowhere near this side of the restaurant. Glancing around, he couldn’t help frowning in confusion as he tried to work out how Harry had pulled this off.

 

“How…?”

 

“Magic.”

 

This time Draco allowed himself to smile properly. “Harry–”

 

“Magic that was set up to be activated at precisely six thirty.” Harry took the one step required to close the gap between them. He brought his right hand up to brush the backs of his fingers against Draco's left cheekbone, a gesture of comfort that Draco knew was left over from when he had been injured the year before. “You look confused.”

 

Unable to help it, Draco frowned. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be? All of this – the music, the terrace – why would you bother? I don’t–” He cut himself off with a shake of his head before he could admit that he couldn’t understand why Harry would do this for him. “My birthday present was the holiday.”

 

Instead of replying straight away, Harry slid his arms up and around Draco's shoulders. He was moving slowly, almost as though stalling for time, which only increased Draco's confusion. Slipping his arms around Harry’s waist, he pulled him closer.

 

“Harry?” Draco hated the hesitation in his voice, but knew there was nothing he could do about it.

 

Harry sighed, but met Draco's eyes. “Has no one ever done something like this for your birthday before? Or even just in general? Just something nice that they knew you would enjoy?”

 

There was no pity in Harry’s tone; no sympathy. He sounded more… _Perplexed_ was the word Draco was tempted to use. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Draco had known going into this that he hadn’t had as much experience in a _real_ relationship as Harry had; Harry had thought himself in a stable, loving relationship for nineteen years, after all. While Draco had had Astoria, he knew that that was a completely different thing to what Harry had experienced. It was an odd sensation, having to admit that this was an area that he severely lacked experience in, but he had thought that after nine months together, these moments would stop happening; that he would finally have settled down in their relationship. Apparently he was doomed to continue to make a fool of himself, though, when it came to Harry. Memories of himself completely losing control over his emotions in the court room the year before flashed through his mind and Draco found himself fighting back a blush.

 

He took another steadying breath when Harry’s fingers drifted up into his hair, distracting him from going over and over the incident in his mind. At least this time there was no one around to witness his failure, he figured. Harry’s fingers playing with the hair at the base of his neck dragged him properly out of his thoughts and he reopened his eyes to see Harry watching him closely. Draco shifted his weight and glanced off to the side, not wanting Harry to be able to see anything that slipped past his defences.

 

“No.” He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but was unsure if he had managed it.

 

“In that case…” Harry paused, stepped back and grinned at him. “May I have this dance?”

 

Draco's first instinct was to accuse Harry of mocking him. He had already taken a half-step backwards, indignation rising in his chest, when he realised what he was doing. This was _Harry_ , he reasoned; the man he had been with for nine solid months, the man currently watching him with a combination of amusement and affection on his face that caused a confusing mix of emotions to erupt in Draco's stomach. Pushing the sudden doubts as far to the back of his mind as he could manage, he raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in question.

 

“You can dance?”

 

Harry’s grin widened and he held out a hand. “Care to find out?”

 

The remnants of shame and nerves melted away the second Draco took Harry into his arms and swept him into a waltz. That was something else strange: Draco knew that Harry was the one person in the world able to make him completely lose control over himself, but he also seemed to be the one person whose mere presence could help him to control any jumbled emotions that he would prefer not to show. It was something he knew he would puzzle over later on now that it had occurred to him, but for the time being, he was more than happy to just have Harry there with him.

 

*~*

 

“So, July twenty-first, then?”

 

“Yes, Pansy, you already knew that.”

 

“Are you _absolutely_ certain about this, Draco?”

 

Harry smothered a grin in his champagne glass. Pansy’s version of a whisper left much to be desired, especially when she had spent the past few hours downing expensive wine, as had most of the rest of the table.

 

“What exactly are you implying?” Draco's vocabulary was no less pretentious when he was pissed than when he was sober, although Harry found it amusing to listen to him attempting to not slur his words.

 

“I’m not…” Pansy sighed and finished off her glass. “I’m not implying anything, Draco, but… Have you really thought about this?”

 

Feeling Draco tense beside him, Harry quickly slipped a hand beneath the table, resting it on Draco's thigh. He had no idea what he would do if this conversation led to Draco and Pansy having a real fight, but he knew he could prevent any physical violence, at least. Draco relaxed after a few seconds and continued the conversation with Pansy in hisses that Harry had a hard time making out.

 

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

 

Harry glanced up at the soft female voice to be met by the pale blue eyes of Narcissa Malfoy across the table from him. With the exceptions of both Christmas and Easter, Harry had had nothing to do with either of Draco's parents after the end of the trial and he had discovered that they both still had the ability to make him incredibly uncomfortable with a single glance. Thankfully, however, Narcissa seemed merely curious in his answer to her question rather than in interrogating him in the same way Pansy was with Draco. He offered up a smile as he answered.

 

“I am, actually, Mrs. Malfoy. I haven’t spent much time in Chez Mercier over the years.”

 

The truth was, since the children had been born, Harry’s idea of a nice restaurant had taken a bit of a nosedive compared to before he and Ginny had become parents. Anywhere that included a play area or had a children’s menu was automatically raised towards the top of the list, which Harry knew to be more pathetic than anything else.

 

“It’s a wonderful restaurant,” she continued with only a slightly condescending smile. “And please, you must call me Narcissa. As Draco continues to repeat, we are to be related soon enough.”

 

This time, Harry didn’t bother to hide his smile behind his glass. “I’ve actually been meaning to speak to you about that. I was wondering whether it would be possible for us all to get together some time in the near future so we can go over what we have organised for the wedding day? I know it’s only going to be a small wedding, but I figured it would be nice if everyone important knew the details of the day.”

 

They had determined that, since this was to be a second wedding for the both of them, they would keep it as small as possible. Family and close friends were invited, as well as a few key members of both the Auror Corps and the Ministry, but that was to be it. Harry was actually quite thankful that no one had objected to them having a more intimate ceremony, considering the amount of publicity they would have received if they had gone big. Their lives were hectic enough as it was without courting even more drama.

 

“That would be… nice. Thank you.” Narcissa managed to convey the impression of being both surprised and grateful without one change in her expression, something Harry found fascinating. “Would a week from Saturday suit you? Lucius and I are making a tour of Europe over the next week and that would give us a number of days to relax at home before leaving again.”

 

Surprise fluttered through Harry at her acceptance, but he covered it with another sip of his champagne. “That sounds good to me.” He glanced over to Draco beside him and grinned. “I’ll have a word with Draco about it in the morning.”

 

A soft hum from Narcissa grabbed Harry’s attention. Her eyes flicked over to where Lucius sat, apparently deep in discussion with Blaise Zabini, then back to Draco. It was difficult to read her expression, but Harry thought he saw disapproval there before it was swiftly hidden.

 

“I believe it may be time to call it a night.”

 

Saying goodbye to everyone there took longer than Harry had hoped it would. He knew that, to anyone less experienced in watching him, Draco wouldn’t appear to be drunk. He smiled and thanked everyone for coming, he was incredibly polite, he didn’t slur his words, but there was something there; something indefinable. He knew he had to get him home before the press managed to discover that they were leaving.

 

It wasn’t until they got outside in the cooler air – through a special side passage reserved for those in the VIP rooms – that it all seemed to really catch up with Draco. Closing his eyes, he swayed and nearly stumbled before Harry stepped up behind him and wrapped an arm securely around his waist, holding him securely.

 

“Harry?”

 

“It’s alright, I’ve got you.”

 

“I…” Draco shook his head, a move Harry thought would have only made his situation worse. “I think I may – may have had…”

 

He shook his head again and brought a hand up to pinch between his eyes. Harry was unable to prevent the wide smile that spread across his face at Draco’s attempts to keep to his usual speech patterns. Moving so he was standing directly in front of him, Harry slid both arms around Draco's waist, making sure he was steady in preparation for him Apparating them both back to the Manor.

 

“You’re absolutely pissed,” he whispered with a small smile.

 

Draco blinked blearily at him for a few seconds before humming and leaning into the embrace. Harry’s eyes connected with Astoria’s over Draco's shoulder and she shot him an enormous grin. Shaking his head, he grinned back before twisting and taking Draco home.

 

“Harry…”

 

Draco wasn’t supporting any of his own weight when Harry landed them in their bedroom in the Manor. His face was buried in the crook of Harry’s neck and his arms looped loosely around Harry’s waist. Harry made a shushing sound as he gathered Draco into his arms and got him tucked into the bed, his robes and shoes removed and placed neatly beside the bed. He was just moving off to strip himself so he could climb into the bed beside him when Draco grabbed his wrist.

 

“Love you.”

 

Harry stood frozen beside the bed, a huge smile spreading across his face. His mind immediately flicked back to a moment at the start of their relationship when Draco had informed him that there were only two types of people who told the absolute truth: the very young and the very drunk. The smile didn’t leave his face as he undressed and climbed into the bed. He wrapped his arm around Draco's middle when he settled, drawing him close.

 

“Love you, too.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Dad?”

 

Reclining back in one of the soft chairs in the Manor’s informal living room, Harry had to bite back a sigh at the sound of Lily’s voice. Saturday mornings had always tended to be quiet when the boys were at Hogwarts and Harry much preferred to just read the newspaper until he was awake enough to interact with the rest of the world. He shook the sports section in his hands, considering not even placing it down when he answered, but the sound of Lily climbing up onto the lounge across from him soon put those thoughts to rest.

 

“What’s up, Lil?”

 

Harry flipped the front of the paper down so he could see her in front of him. Lily was already dressed for the day in a ruffled green dress with her hair in ribbons that Harry was certain must have been Astoria’s doing: he had never learned to do anything as intricate as Lily’s hair looked and Draco had no reason to know how. He raised an eyebrow at her, causing her to giggle.

 

“Draco does that all the time.”

 

“Yes, usually at me when I’ve done or said something he considers particularly stupid,” Harry mumbled before shooting Lily a grin when her giggles turned to proper laughter. He folded the newspaper up and placed it aside when it became obvious that Lily was there to stay. “Is that why you’re in here? To compare me to Draco?”

 

“No,” she managed as soon as she got her laughter under control. “You’re too different to compare.” Before Harry could react to that statement, she changed the subject. “Can we go to Diagon today? I already asked Draco and he said I had to ask you.”

 

It struck Harry as a little odd that Lily would ask Draco before him, causing him to wonder exactly what she was up to. “Why do you want to go to Diagon?”

 

“So we can look at Eeylops.”

 

The sentence was stated so simply it made it sound as though Harry’s question had been unreasonable. Lily’s eyes were wide and she tucked her legs up beneath her as she waited for him to respond, giving her an innocent look that Harry knew was completely false. If there was one thing Harry knew about his daughter, it was that she should never be underestimated. Lily had managed to inherit both his stubbornness and Ginny’s determination, meaning that Harry knew that most of the time when she asked him for something with that look, he was being manipulated in some way. His eyes narrowed automatically as he studied her.

 

“Lily–”

 

“You said I could get a pet before I went to Hogwarts,” Lily interrupted quickly. If possible, it seemed that her eyes widened even more as she stared at him. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to get one soon so it can get used to me?”

 

“Yes, it would, but–”

 

“James and Al both got their owls before they went to Hogwarts, so–”

 

“Lily!” Harry raised his hands in defeat. “Alright, we can go to Diagon today, but only if you stop nagging me now.”

 

The smile that Lily offered up in response was dazzling. “Thanks, Dad!” Launching herself off the lounge, she threw her arms around Harry’s neck. “I’ll get my list and then we can go.”

 

This time Harry did sigh. The past few times Lily had seen Hermione, she had been peppering her with questions about what was best for her to get before she went off to school. Hermione, of course, had been more than willing to oblige and had given Lily a long list of items that she herself had found incredibly useful her first year. The latest edition of _Hogwarts: A History_ was apparently right at the top of that list. Harry discarded his glasses on the table beside him and scrubbed his hands through his hair and down over his face as Lily made her way out of the room.

 

“He said yes!”

 

Harry’s head snapped up at Lily’s excited voice. Grabbing his glasses back, he shoved them onto his nose. When he could focus again, he saw Lily grinning up at Draco, who was leaning against the doorway of the living room. Harry considered it a testament to how not-yet-awake he was that he hadn’t even noticed Draco's arrival.

 

“Did he indeed?”

 

The drawl could have come straight from the Draco Harry had known back in school, as could the raise of an eyebrow which caused Lily to giggle again. It was the look of amusement that Draco shot Harry over Lily’s head that made all the difference; that changed him into the Draco Harry now knew.

 

“Yeah, so we can go soon. I’m just going to go get my list.”

 

Harry frowned as Lily almost skipped out of the room. “‘We’?”

 

The amusement didn’t leave Draco's face as he turned his gaze to meet Harry’s eyes. “How many times has she been in to ask you about Diagon?”

 

Suspicion crept down Harry’s spine as he reached down to pull the lever that would straighten the recliner out properly. “That was the first, why?”

 

He watched as Draco's head dropped, an obviously unwilling smile spreading across his face. Draco raised a hand to run through his hair, mussing it up from its normal neatness before meeting Harry’s eyes again.

 

“She’s played the both of us.”

 

The amusement changed to disbelief as Draco shook his head, but it wasn’t Draco's expressions that Harry was interested in anymore. Draco's long legs were crossed at the ankle, one hand planted firmly on his hip and the other swinging by his side when he dropped it from his hair. It was one of the most casual and relaxed poses Draco allowed himself and it was an incredibly rare sight. Shaking his head to prevent himself from drifting off into fantasies that were entirely inappropriate this early in the morning as warmth flooded him, Harry cleared his throat before standing.

 

“I figured something was going on. Let me guess: she told you that I told her no, right? That got you to say yes and now she’s going to claim we can all go together.”

 

Lily had been trying to convince the two of them that it would be perfectly fine for all three of them to go out to Diagon Alley, but both Harry and Draco had been resisting. They were wary enough of being seen together in public, what with the press and the people who wanted to both congratulate and abuse them. It had also only gotten worse after the front page picture they had accidentally given them the day of Ginny’s sentencing. The picture of Draco kissing Harry in a moment of complete elation over hearing Ginny’s sentence had spread throughout the wizarding world in what had seemed to be a matter of seconds and had caused a frenzy for more pictures that had lasted months. Harry knew that the press would have a field day if they managed to get pictures of the three of them together in public and he really didn’t want to subject Lily to that if he could avoid it. It was one of the major issues he was having when it came to giving Lily as normal a childhood as he could manage: he wanted her to be able to do all the regular things a child did, but he also knew he _had_ to protect her from the kind of attention he had received from the press as a teenager. He grinned when Draco straightened and began to tidy both his hair and clothing.

 

“I’m so glad you find it amusing that a ten year old has outsmarted me.”

 

Harry stepped forward, closing the gap between them when Draco tried to cast the charm that would set his hair to its usual orderliness. Replacing Draco's hand with one of his own, he grinned before messing Draco's hair even more than it already was, earning himself a glare.

 

“That tends to happen regularly with Lily. You’ll get used to it eventually.”

 

“Leave my bloody hair alone, Potter,” Draco grumbled, ducking in an obvious attempt to get away. “I was under the impression that it was only _you_ she ever tried that on.”

 

Harry allowed him to step away, if only because he knew Lily would be arriving back downstairs any second. “Family, actually.”

 

Draco's head snapped up at Harry’s quiet response. “Excuse me?”

 

“She has only ever tried to sweet-talk members of the family before.”

 

Harry watched as Draco's expression changed from the slight shock he had been showing to completely blank. Even if Harry hadn’t known the blank stare meant that Draco was trying to hide something he didn’t feel comfortable showing, it would have been obvious in the stiffening of his posture. What wasn’t obvious to him was the reason behind whatever Draco was attempting to smother. A tiny thread of worry shivered through Harry as the thought occurred to him that that had been the wrong thing to say, although why it would be was completely beyond him. His pulse quickened a little with nerves as Lily raced down the marble staircase and landed beside Draco, grabbing his hand and grinning up at him. Draco didn’t lose the blank stare; if anything, he seemed to stiffen even more. Biting back the shock of disappointment that raced through him, Harry cleared his throat quietly.

 

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

 

“Oh, but Dad–”

 

Harry held up a hand to silence Lily. “I, er, I think it would be nice if we could find something we could all do together, however.” He had to resist the urge to shake Draco when he was subjected to the blank stare again as Draco turned from Lily. “You don’t have to, but I… Well, we would _both_ appreciate it if you’d come with us.”

 

Draco's hesitation and reluctance was so obvious to Harry he was a little surprised it didn’t have a physical presence. He opened his mouth to reassure Draco that it was fine if he didn’t want to face the press like this, but before he could, Draco glanced down to where Lily stood beside him again, her eyes wide and hopeful.

 

“Alright.” There was a beat when no one said anything – Harry hardly daring to even breathe – before Draco continued. “Just allow me to change out of my work clothes.”

 

Harry watched as Draco disentangled his hand from Lily’s, then proceeded up the stairs Lily had just jumped down. His muscles twitched with the need to follow him and ask what had gone wrong, but he held himself back, thinking that giving Draco a few minutes alone was probably his best course of action at that point.

 

“Dad?”

 

“Hmm?” He refocussed to see Lily frowning up at him.

 

“I think he’s been inside too long.”

 

Harry blinked at Lily in confusion for a few seconds. “What?”

 

“Draco,” she stated, her tone indicating that that should be enough of an explanation. When Harry merely shook his head, she sighed and planted her hands on her hips. “Draco has been inside too long. Being outside in the sun always cheers people up; Uncle Charlie told me that the last time I saw him.”

 

Shaking his head, Harry chuckled. “I’ll make sure to mention it to him, Lil. Look, why don’t you wait for us in the living room? I’ll go up and see what’s keeping him.”

 

He waited until Lily had disappeared through the door across the hall that led into the formal living room before racing up the stairs. A combination of nervous energy and a slight fear that Draco was going to be upset with him over this fuelled his steps, pushing him to move faster before he reached the floor with their bedroom. His paces only slowed as he crossed the small outer room before entering the bedroom.

 

“You took your time.”

 

The amusement clear in Draco's voice seemed to drain all of the tension from Harry’s body and he sagged against the doorframe for a few seconds. Draco was standing in front of the mirror attached to the inside door of the wardrobe, adjusting the fit of his white shirt before moving his fingers to the line of small buttons. Harry shoved himself to his feet properly and made his way over so he could replace Draco's fingers with his own.

 

“You’re not angry.”

 

He could hear the relief in his voice before he glanced up into the mirror. Draco leant back against Harry’s chest, but refused to meet his eyes, his gaze falling instead towards the floor. His voice was quiet when he responded.

 

“I never expected to have a daughter.”

 

Harry finished with the buttons and looped his arms loosely around Draco's waist. “I really don’t think Lily is going to give you a choice in this one. I’m pretty sure you won her everlasting devotion that first night when you played along with that ridiculous curtsey she offered you.” The smile that stretched across Draco's face in response held a fondness to it that sent warmth spreading through Harry’s limbs. “I’d say you now have a daughter whether you want one or not.”

 

Draco's fingers traced along Harry’s arms for a few seconds, the fond expression still in his eyes. Harry found himself quite tempted to say something else to prolong the moment, but he knew not to push Draco when it came to things like this. The very fact that Draco had allowed himself to open up this much was something that Harry considered damn-near a miracle; there was no way he was going to do anything to discourage Draco from continuing on this path. The look melted from Draco's eyes in the next few seconds as he straightened and finally met Harry’s eyes in the mirror.

 

“We’d better get going or she’ll be up here herself to drag us out.”

 

Harry grinned and placed a soft kiss behind Draco's ear before stepping back. The day was beginning to look as though it was going to prove interesting.

 

*~*

 

Harry in protective mode was an amazing sight to witness. It had been a while since Draco had seen Harry in any situation where he obviously thought someone near him needed protecting and he had almost forgotten the quiet power Harry was capable of projecting. Draco had no real idea why, but there was simply something about watching Harry stare down someone down that sent a delightful shiver up his spine.

 

“Come on Draco, this one is really good!”

 

Draco had to smother a smile as he watched Harry and Lily enter a clothing store just off Diagon Alley. Shopping with both Lily and Harry was a fascinating experience: Lily had spent the morning informing Draco exactly which stores she liked and why, and dragging the two of them from store to store, quite oblivious to the strange and curious looks they had been receiving. Harry, of course, had been hovering not far from Lily’s side all morning, keeping a watchful eye on her and the people around her. Harry had stopped Lily every time they had come to a side street in Diagon, guiding her down the smaller alleys away from the crowds more often than not. Draco was fairly certain that Lily didn’t know that she was being watched over so closely and he found it interesting to see the subtle differences in Harry’s behaviour depending on where they were.

 

“ _Draco!_ ”

 

Biting back a grin, Draco entered the shop behind Harry. He was immediately hit by a cloud of incense so strong his eyes instantly began to water, causing him to automatically squeeze them shut and scrub a hand across his face. When he re-opened them, it was to see that he had entered a small shop crammed wall-to-wall with clothing racks full with ruffled clothing. The mix of colours combined with the strong smell of incense caused him to blink in astonishment for a few seconds before Lily made her way out from behind a clothing rack, grabbed his hand and dragged him further into the shop.

 

“Lily, I–”

 

“Dad says I can get some new clothes.”

 

The excited tone to Lily’s voice made it impossible for Draco to disappoint her. “Where _is_ your Father?”

 

Glancing around the tiny shop, Draco thought it strange that he had managed to lose Harry in the few seconds it had taken him to enter the room. Lily’s reaction of just shrugging didn’t prove to be very helpful.

 

“Probably in the back with Deborah, the lady who owns the shop. Come look at this.”

 

They spent the next half hour in the cramped store, with Lily trying on numerous outfits that she insisted both Draco and Harry admire. It turned out that Harry _had_ been in the back of the store with the owner, who didn’t make another appearance until Lily had decided on a number of outfits that she absolutely had to have. The reason for her absence soon became clear to Draco, who found himself receiving the cold shoulder as she served Lily and Harry with a stiff smile. He quietly exited the store, leaving Harry and Lily to pay for the purchases in peace.

 

Standing outside in the shade of the tall buildings, Draco spent the next few minutes simply people watching. It was an activity that he had always found both interesting and useful, but this time it was more to just fill in the time until Harry emerged from the shop. He didn’t have to wait long until the door was thrown open and Lily bounced out into the alley.

 

“We’re going to Eeylops now!”

 

Draco was unable to prevent a smile when Lily grinned at him and began to make her way towards Diagon. He pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and made to follow her, but was held back by Harry grabbing his wrist.

 

“I’m sorry about that store. I did try to convince Lily that we shouldn’t go in there, but she insisted and…” Harry trailed off, but his regret was written across his face. “I knew Deborah wouldn’t be too happy.”

 

A quick glance around told Draco that no one was paying much attention to them. “I’m used to people reacting that way towards me, Harry.”

 

Harry sighed. “You shouldn’t have to be.”

 

Draco found himself hard pressed to not smile as gratitude at Harry’s reaction spread through him. “And you believe that you can change opinions people have held about ex-Death Eaters for longer than either of us has been alive by simply talking to them?”

 

“Of course not.” Harry rolled his eyes. “I was trying to change her opinion about you personally.”

 

Staring into Harry’s eyes there in the little side alley running off Diagon, Draco knew he couldn’t afford to give in to the urge he was suddenly hit with to grab him and kiss him senseless. It was a close thing, though. Closing his eyes briefly, he ducked his head until he was back under control of the urge.

 

“Come on.” He could hear the warmth in his voice that caused Harry to shoot him a ridiculously wide smile, but he didn’t want to try to control it. “We should find Lily.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter starts exactly where the last one left off :)

“It’s alright, she’s just over there.”

 

Draco turned to see that Harry was right: Lily was standing at the mouth of the alleyway, speaking to someone he couldn’t see. He found it slightly odd that Harry hadn’t panicked when he had realised that Lily was speaking to someone, but the reason soon became clear. Ron Weasley stepped out and entered their alley after a couple of seconds, smiling as Lily chattered at him. Draco felt his stomach drop towards his shoes; this was not something he had been prepared to have to deal with that day, despite the fact that he knew Ronald worked just a few blocks away. His shoulders tensed as he automatically straightened his posture.

 

“Harry! You said you’d be at Eeylops, not down some bloody nowhere backstreet!” Weasley stepped up to them and offered Harry his hand. It took a few seconds, but he did turn to Draco, his smile turning forced. “Malfoy.”

 

“Ronald.”

 

Draco had taken to using the Weasel’s first name since the Christmas holidays the previous year. It seemed to annoy him for some strange reason, but wasn’t something he could really complain about without seeming petty and childish, making it the perfect way for Draco to get under his skin.

 

“Uncle Ron, come with me! I’m going to get a pet today!”

 

Draco held back from following when Lily dragged Ronald away down the alleyway. A small tug on his wrist turned him back to Harry, who was watching him with a hopeful expression.

 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t mind…” He trailed off when Draco raised an eyebrow at him. “Forgive me?”

 

Ducking his head, Draco sighed. “You found time to owl him before we left and tell him to meet us at Eeylops.” It was a statement rather than a question. “Did you believe I would have backed out of coming if I had known?”

 

“Would I have been wrong?”

 

Draco had to admit that, up to a few months ago, Harry would have completely correct. He would have cried off the second he had discovered that Harry had invited any of his friends along with them and Lily, simply because there was too much animosity still between him and them. Now, though, it was different. Now, he wouldn’t just be disappointing Harry – which he could handle quite well with a few strategic touches and a night spent together – no, now he would also be disappointing Lily, which he _wasn’t_ sure he could handle. As much of a surprise as it had been for him, he had come to care for Lily quite quickly and he knew for a fact that she had had more than her fair share of disappointment from the adults in her life over the past few months. He couldn’t add to that now even if he wanted to. He glanced towards the end of the alley where Lily had disappeared with Ronald into the seething masses of Diagon.

 

“Yes, you would have.” Draco was unable to prevent the gasp he let out when Harry grasped both sides of his face and pulled him into a quick kiss. “Harry?”

 

“I love you.”

 

Draco knew for a fact that he probably looked completely dumbfounded as he stared into Harry’s eyes, but all his concentration was focussed on preventing himself from giving away much more than he was comfortable with in public. Considering how close they were standing to Diagon Alley, Draco knew they ran the chance of being caught by either the press or someone who wouldn’t think twice about selling their story. Taking a deep breath to collect himself, he merely raised an eyebrow in question, not ready to fully trust his voice in the face of such surprise. Harry stepped a little closer, a grin on his face that Draco knew meant no good.

 

“And if I wasn’t absolutely certain you’d hex me into a puddle of goo, I’d have you pressed up against the wall there.” Harry paused for a few seconds when Draco's breath hissed out between his teeth. Glancing around quickly, Harry stepped closer still. “I’d have my hands under your robes and my tongue down your throat and I would have you whimpering and _begging_ me to take you home _right now._ ” He released Draco's wrist and stepped away the second Draco reached for him, grinning wickedly. “If I didn’t know you’d hex me for it.”

 

Draco blinked as Harry stepped further back, allowing him some breathing room. His skin was tingling with heat, his heart racing and his mind beginning to cloud over with the images Harry had placed there. When he finally began to re-take control of his senses, a blush began to creep up his neck. He found himself stuck between the need to follow through on Harry’s prediction to hex him senseless and wanting to cloister himself away and study exactly why it was that Harry was able to have that kind of effect on him with only a few whispered words. His fingers twitched towards his wand without him even thinking about it, causing Harry to chuckle.

 

“I knew that that would be your response.”

 

Glancing up proved to be the wrong move: Harry was leaning back against the wall Draco had claimed a few minutes before, his arms crossed loosely over his stomach and a lazy grin on his face. Draco's stomach flipped, causing the blush to deepen. He shook his head and stared determinedly at the ground in the hope that he would soon be able to regain control over these ridiculous emotions. A small sound from Harry caused him to automatically look back up.

 

“You’re cute when you’re overwhelmed.”

 

Draco rolled his eyes. “I hate you, Potter.”

 

“I know.” Harry smirked. “Come on; we have a no doubt incredibly annoying animal to buy.”

 

With that, he made his way slowly down the alley towards Diagon. Draco's eyes followed him, finding himself unable to look away from Harry’s arse in the jeans he favoured. It was a few minutes after Harry had disappeared into the crowd that Draco finally managed to gain proper control over himself again. He smoothed his hands over his hair and clothing, silently acknowledging that when he was flustered, knowing that his appearance was immaculate helped him to regain control much faster. Taking one last deep breath and letting it out slowly, he stepped away from his quiet spot away from the noise and bustle and into Diagon. He turned and headed in the direction of Eeylops, images of how he could subtly take revenge on Harry flashing through his mind.

 

*~*

 

“Look, Harry, I know that he’s your… I just know, alright?” Ron paused and scrubbed a hand along the back of his neck, looking more awkward now than Harry had seen him look in quite a while. “I think I’ve dealt with this whole divorce thing quite well, considering it was my sister you divorced. And before you say anything, I also know what she did. I’ve accepted that she needs the kind of help that only professionals can give her. The thing is…”

 

Harry sighed as Ron trailed off. Trying to merge the new life he so desperately wanted with the old life he loved was still proving to be difficult, with the fact that Harry’s friends didn’t get along with Draco being one of the hardest things for him to deal with. He knew that Draco had opinions that he didn’t voice about Ron and the rest of Harry’s friends, but it seemed that Ron in particular didn’t have a problem voicing unasked-for opinions on Draco.

 

“Dad? Can I get a dog?”

 

Harry had no real idea where Lily was in Eeylops, but he knew she couldn’t get into too much trouble. He grinned as he responded. “A toad, a cat or an owl, Lils. You know that.” He turned back to Ron when he heard Lily sigh loudly from across the store. “We have nearly this exact same conversation every time we’re together these days, you know.”

 

Ron sighed. “I know.”

 

“Well?”

 

“You want the truth?”

 

_No._ “Sure.”

 

Instead of continuing straight away, Ron stepped out into a slightly larger space so he could pace in front of Harry. Technically, Harry knew he should use the time to brace himself for whatever it was that Ron thought he needed to hear, but all the extra time did was cause his nerves to jump unpleasantly. All the warmth he had been feeling after his little interlude with Draco had abruptly left him nearly the second Ron had cornered him in Eeylops, leaving him with a feeling of resentment he had to fight to not show. He refocussed when Ron stopped pacing and faced him.

 

“I don’t think you should be letting Lily be around him so much.”

 

Harry’s mind went blank with what he hoped vaguely was only shock at Ron’s words. “Who?”

 

Ron shot him an exasperated look in response. “Malfoy.”

 

The confusion still flowing through Harry’s mind seemed to have short-circuited his higher reasoning skills, as all he did for a few seconds was blink. “Why?”

 

“He’s a Death Eater, Harry,” Ron responded slowly, sounding like he thought Harry had lost complete control over his senses. “Besides that, it’s _Malfoy_. Who knows what kinds of creepy things he has stored away in that house of his. What if she finds something and it curses her?”

 

Indignation rising in his chest, Harry took a deep breath in an attempt to keep his voice even. “Ron, you were part of the team who cleared the Manor after the end of the war. You know there isn’t anything left there that could–”

 

“You think he hasn’t found other things to buy over the years?”

 

“No, I don’t think he has.” Harry moved up so he was standing directly in front of Ron, his hands clenched by his sides. “I would have found it by now. You know I would never endanger my children by letting them stay in the same house as someone I don’t trust.”

 

“They’re not just _your_ kids, though, are they?”

 

Harry’s eyes closed involuntarily as an idea as to what was really going on occurred to him. He brought a hand up so he could pinch between his eyes, hoping to ward off the threatening headache.

 

“So that’s it, is it? You’re also blaming me for the children not wanting to see Ginny.”

 

It was the only explanation for Ron’s behaviour that Harry could think of. He knew it should have occurred to him that Molly’s mention of Ginny’s birthday the last time they had been together wouldn’t be an isolated incident and it now seemed likely that she had recruited Ron to her cause. The bell to the store tinkled and Harry re-opened his eyes, his hand dropping to his side. Draco seemed to assess the situation quickly – Harry facing off with Ron in one of the aisles, his hands clenched and obviously on the defence – and moved to stand beside him, his hand resting lightly on the small of Harry’s back.

 

“Harry?”

 

Ron snorted in what sounded very much like disgust. “No,” he practically snarled. “I blame _him_.”

 

Harry merely sighed. This was also a discussion he had had with Ron many times over the past few months. It was something that he was rapidly getting sick of talking about, but he also sort-of understood where Ron was coming from with this one. The disintegration of Harry and Ginny’s marriage would look, from the outside, as though it had been caused by Draco; that Draco had stolen Harry away from Ginny. Taking a calming breath, he nodded to Draco to indicate that everything was fine before returning his attention to Ron.

 

“You know full well that the kids not seeing Ginny is completely their own choice. I haven’t stopped them or tried to influence them in any way and neither has Draco. Do you really think I would have stayed with someone who was trying to manipulate my children?”

 

“Not if you’re being manipulated yourself, no.”

 

Harry reached to grasp hold of Draco's wrist when he felt his posture stiffen even further beside him. “Draco?” He waited until he was certain he had Draco's attention before continuing. “Would you mind finding Lily for me? Ron and I are going to have a word outside.”

 

Draco's attention immediately went straight to Harry, pinning him with a searching look. Harry held his gaze for a few seconds, trying to project a sense of ‘everything will be perfectly fine’. It must have only been a few seconds before Draco nodded, a short, sharp movement that told Harry he would be recounting everything that had happened in Draco's absence later on in the day.

 

Harry turned on his heel and marched through the cramped store, winding his way around baskets and carry cages. The daylight and fresh air that hit him the second he was outside was a little stunning, but he continued on, walking with determination towards a secluded spot just behind Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. He could only hope that Ron was following behind him, as he absolutely refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing Harry looking for him in the crowds.

 

“Are you going to hit me for insulting your girlfriend’s honour, Harry?”

 

Harry let out a tired laugh the second the gate closed with a clang behind Ron. Turning, he took in the sight of Ron standing with his arms crossed across his chest, his feet braced apart and a scowl on his face.

 

“Fiancé, actually.” Harry raised his left hand and waggled his engagement ring so it caught the sunlight, provoking Ron in a way he knew would piss him off further. “I thought _you_ of all people would remember that, what with how obsessed you apparently are with who I’m currently sleeping with.” Ron’s reaction of rolling his eyes seemed to light a spark in Harry’s chest, sending adrenalin pumping through his veins. “That’s not a new obsession of yours, though, is it? You’ve had a vested interest in who I was sleeping with for twenty years now, right? In fact, the only person I’ve dated that you’ve approved of was Cho.”

 

“Harry–”

 

“No,” Harry interrupted him, on a roll now that he really didn’t want to break. “Ginny I could understand to a certain point. She’s your sister and you felt you had to protect her, I get that part. What I don’t understand is why you continue to try to influence my personal life? Now that Ginny is gone and out of everyone’s hair for the next few decades, why not just let me get on with my life? The only person I could have tried sleeping with after the divorce that you could have any right in trying to stop me would be Hermione and let me tell you right now, mate: she has the wrong bits.”

 

Harry could have seen the punch coming from a mile off. He watched as Ron’s face twisted into a grimace, as his muscles bunched, as he drew his arm back and as he began to swing. Harry allowed it to happen, though, thinking that maybe if Ron got some of this out of his system, then things would start to calm down a bit. He did manage to brace himself and turn to a position where he knew the blow would deflect off and not cause too much damage to his jaw, though. The punch seemed to jar his brain for a few seconds, holding off the flash of pain as he struggled to keep his feet. His eyes squeezed closed and he let out a noise that sounded like a wounded Hippogriff when the pain finally hit him.

 

“If you _ever_ speak about my wife like that again…”

 

Harry opened and closed his mouth, working his aching jaw and checking for loose teeth before responding. “So it’s perfectly fine for you to abuse Draco – the man I love – and I have to stand here and put up with it, but you get to punch me the second I bring Hermione into the discussion? Beautiful double standards you have there. Nice to know.”

 

He blinked his watering eyes open when Ron made no response. Standing there in the small courtyard behind the shop with the sounds and smells of Diagon all around them, Harry took the time to assess the situation. He had just allowed Ron to clobber him – quite deservedly as well – for suggesting that he may be interested in Hermione, his vision was slightly blurred by what he hoped were only tears of pain brought about by said clobbering, and his ears were ringing. Straightening up caused Harry’s back to ache as well, reminding him that it had been a long time since he had been training with the young recruits in the Corps.

 

“I am too fucking old to be doing this every time we disagree over how you speak about Draco.”

 

It took Ron a few seconds, but his posture eventually visibly relaxed. “We’re only thirty-eight.”

 

Harry let out a soft sigh of relief, not bothering to remind Ron that he hadn’t yet had his birthday that year. “That’s old enough, believe me.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair as he glanced around before just deciding to come out and say what was on his mind. “We need to sit down and have this out properly one day. You, me, Draco and whoever else from the family who wants to sit in. I love him, Ron, and he’s not going anywhere; not if I have any say in the matter.”

 

Harry was certain that he saw a flash of disgust cross Ron’s face, but it was quickly hidden. “Fine. I can’t guarantee anything though. You do know that, right?”

 

It was a struggle for Harry to not sigh in response, but he managed it. With a nod to Ron, he moved off towards the gate, casting a Healing charm on his jaw as he did. His hand was on the handle of the gate when Ron called to him.

 

“Sorry about the jaw.”

 

Harry grinned and waved before stepping out into Diagon. He kept his head down as he swiftly moved towards Eeylops, not wanting anyone to notice any bruises that may be forming. The last thing he needed was a headline stating that Draco was abusing him, with accompanying pictures as ‘proof’. He only raised his head again once he was in the relative darkness of the pet store.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Back here.”

 

Harry weaved his way towards the sound of Draco's voice, but it seemed that he needn’t have worried about trying to find him. Draco rounded the corner at the end of an aisle Harry entered, a concerned look in his eyes. His concern only seemed to increase the closer he got to Harry and by the time he was close enough to grasp Harry’s chin and turn his bruises towards the light, his hands were shaking.

 

“I’ll kill him.”

 

“No, you won’t.”

 

“Yes, I fucking will.”

 

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco's waist, holding him close when he tried to sidestep him. “I provoked him. Would it help if I said I also allowed him to hit me?”

 

“No, it fucking wouldn’t. And I wouldn’t care if you admitted to dissecting one of his children, Potter, I won’t allow him to–” Draco's words were cut off with a sound of protest when Harry dragged him into a harsh kiss. “Harry–”

 

“Thank you.” Harry couldn’t help the goofy smile that stretched his lips, despite the pain it caused him. “But it’s really unnecessary.”

 

Draco merely stared down at him for a long time, obviously trying to decide whether it was worth the effort to try to fight him on this one. Eventually, he sighed and relaxed into Harry’s grip on him a little.

 

“Look at the ceiling.”

 

Harry obediently tilted his head, waiting for the second the Healing charm would wash over him. The relief he felt when the pain left him had his smile widening.

 

“You shouldn’t provoke men larger than you because they said something you don’t like about me.”

 

In the small amount of light reaching their current position, Harry could only just make out the concern in Draco's eyes, but it sent a shiver of delight through him anyway. “I love you.”

 

Harry more felt than heard the rush of air Draco let out that he assumed was part exasperation and part amusement. “Prat.”

 

Harry grinned, but didn’t get time to respond before he heard a crash at the end of the aisle. He released his grip on Draco's waist and turned towards the sound in time to see Lily chasing a large, fluffy white cat.

 

“Lily?”

 

“Dad! I found the cat I want!”

 

Harry’s eyes widened as he got a look at the monster Lily scooped up in her arms. It struggled and hissed the second she brought it close to him.

 

“Are you sure?” He could have sworn he heard Draco snort beside him.

 

“Yeah, her name’s Bastet. Isn’t she pretty?”

 

Watching as Lily held the cat up for him to inspect, Harry had to smile. There was no doubt in his mind that Lily and Hermione were two of a kind. Shaking his head, he decided to just give in; there was no way he was up for a debate with Lily at this stage in the day.

 

“Fine. Come on, we’ll go pay for her.”

 

“It’s okay; Draco already has.” Lily grinned at him before wandering back into the aisle she had come from. “I’m just looking for leashes and bowls now.”

 

Harry turned to Draco, who was watching on with an amused expression. “You got her a fluff ball.”

 

“You’d prefer the Chihuahua she seemed to favour?”

 

Wrapping his arms around Draco's waist once again, Harry rested their foreheads together. “The fluff ball was a good decision.”

 

“I thought so.” Draco brushed their lips together briefly before pulling back and straightening his clothing. “Now let’s see if we can speed this up so I can get you home and you can tell me all about what you said to apparently deserve getting punched by your supposed best friend.”

 

Harry groaned, causing Draco to chuckle as he moved off into the next aisle with Lily. The thought that the next time he felt the desire to invite Ron with them, he would also have to make certain Hermione was there to balance everything out crossed his mind as he moved to join Draco, Lily and Bastet.


	8. Chapter 8

Sliding quietly out of bed just after his alarm went off at 5am, Draco had to resist sighing. Harry was snoring in the bed next to him and Draco wanted nothing more than to stay in bed that morning with him, but he knew he needed time to himself to sort out everything that had happened the day before. He dressed quickly after a short shower and made his way downstairs.

 

The house-elves were well used to Draco's early hours by this point in time and never failed to have the morning newspaper and his breakfast on the kitchen table ready for him. The fact that the only things on the table that morning were his eggs and bacon with the salt and pepper shakers should have warned him that this was a bad omen, but he merely shook his head and called for one of the elves.

 

“Yes, Master Draco?” The small elf bowed deeply, her union uniform brushing the floor along with her nose before she straightened. “Is something wrong?”

 

“Zinty,” Draco began, quite proud of himself to have remembered the elf’s name. “Where is the morning paper?”

 

“Ah. Zinty… Zinty thought that maybe… Maybe Mr. Malfoy would prefer to wait for the later edition today?”

 

The question along with Zinty’s formal address to him sent suspicion racing down Draco's spine. Still, he merely eyed the elf for a few seconds instead of losing his temper as his Father before him would have.

 

“No, Zinty, Mr. Malfoy would prefer to know exactly what it is you are hiding from him.”

 

It was remarkable how fast a house-elf could turn beet red. And not a full-coverage blush the same way humans did, either; no, Zinty went splotchy red as she stared up at Draco in what appeared to be a combination of horror and insult.

 

“Zinty would _never_ hide anything from her employers, Sir.” Draco's lips twitched as he watched her gather all of her dignity and draw herself to her full height of roughly three feet. “Zinty respects the fact that Master Draco has accepted employed house-elves into his house, Sir. It is a sign of true good breeding to respect every lifeform as being equal, Sir, and Zinty is thankful to Master Draco for giving her the chance to earn a living.”

 

Draco discovered that he had to bite down on the inside of his lip to prevent the threatening frown. The sharp jab of pain helped him to refocus his attention away from the house-elf’s profuse thanks and back to the fact that she apparently _was_ hiding something from him. There was no way Draco would ever punish his house-elves – not in the way that had been so common years ago, at least – but he would also not stand for them to be keeping things from him. He may treat his house-elves much better than Lucius ever had, but they were still his employees and they _would_ respect that fact. He arched an eyebrow at Zinty, who flinched.

 

“But?”

 

Zinty sighed before beginning to wring her hands before her. “Master Draco must not be mad with Master Harry, Sir.”

 

_Harry?_ The air left Draco's lungs and he was absolutely certain that he had lost what little natural colour he had in a matter of only a few seconds. Surely Harry couldn’t have managed to get into some kind of strife without Draco knowing it, could he? The thudding of his heart in his chest told him that Harry very well could have gotten himself into trouble from numerous sources without his knowledge, some worse than others. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his hands by his sides and released them in an attempt to curb the urge to grab Zinty and shake the information out of her. When he spoke it was in an obviously controlled voice that had scared information out of men with much stronger wills than the house-elf before him.

 

“Tell me what has happened, Zinty.”

 

Draco's nerves jumped as Zinty walked over to a drawer in the cabinetry and withdrew the newspaper. Judging by her slightly jerky movements, she was almost as nervous about this as he was. She stood before him with the folded paper held in her hands, straightened to her full height again and raised her chin, clearly hoping to look dignified.

 

“Please do not be mad with Master Harry, Sir,” she repeated before handing over the paper.

 

Draco immediately unfolded it without even taking his seat at the table. He regretted the action in the next second when he was greeted by a full-page spread of him and Harry kissing for the entire wizarding world to see. The photographer had obviously been at a distance, but the men kissing were unmistakably the two of them in the alley the day before. Groping behind him for the chair, Draco sat down with a thud.

 

“Master Draco?”

 

“That will be all, Zinty.”

 

He shoved the plate of food aside as the house-elf sighed and Disapparated. Staring down at the moving picture, Draco's nerves began to sing with both tension and an anger at himself for being so stupid as to allow this to happen that he hadn’t felt in months. He had known that allowing Harry that kind of freedom with him in public had been a chance, but he had truly thought they had gotten away with it. Picture-Harry’s hands shifted slightly, giving Draco a good look at the absolute adoration in his eyes as he pulled back from the kiss before his expression changed to the cheeky grin Draco remembered much more clearly from the day before. Warmth flooded him, warring with the embarrassment he was feeling knowing that the whole of the wizarding world would be seeing the exact same thing he currently was as soon as they awoke. It could have been minutes or mere seconds before he was able to drag his attention away from the picture to read the headline, but he was thankful that he had taken the time once he did.

 

_Has Harry Potter Thawed Draco Malfoy? Full story on pages 4-5._

 

His stomach seemed to have turned to lead in the past few minutes, making it difficult to breathe properly as he immediately flipped to page four. What he saw there nearly stopped his heart: himself with an almost dopey smile on his face, staring as Harry walked away from him down the alley. Watching as his picture-self licked his lips, the thought that the assumption that he had been ‘thawed’ by Harry was understandable crossed his mind: the man he was watching in the picture was so obviously smitten that it was almost painful to witness. Draco’s eyes slid closed as humiliation crept slowly through him, prickling along his skin and heating his face and the back of his neck.

 

“Have you been scaring the house-elves?” Astoria’s sharp voice startled Draco out of his little cocoon of shame, causing him to jump. “Draco? What’s wrong?” Her tone changed to concern when he didn’t respond.

 

Draco reopened his eyes, but kept his gaze fixed firmly to the table to prevent himself from showing any of the anger at himself that was still coursing through his veins. “Take a look at this. Zinty was trying to hide it from me.”

 

The paper shifted from Draco's eye line. It rustled a few times as Astoria read the article, but he ignored it, instead focussing on listening to the sounds Astoria was making as she read. She gave little sighs and made the occasional noise that sounded disbelieving, but overall Draco thought she sounded more amused than anything else. The idea that she found his humiliation humorous only increased his anger, finally causing him to look up. Astoria met his eyes without hesitation.

 

“You didn’t actually read the article, did you?”

 

Draco scowled. “The pictures are embarrassing enough.”

 

“Well, actually…” Astoria paused, a small smile tilting her lips upwards. She seemed to be hesitant to continue, but sighed and nodded when Draco cocked an eyebrow at her. “I’m sorry, but the pictures are cute. The article itself is quite a good one as well. All it does is speculate as to whether you’ve brightened up a bit since getting together with Harry.”

 

Disbelief washed through Draco as he stared up at her. Cute; she’d called him _cute_. Insult piled in on top of the humiliation, anger and the emotions still lingering in his chest from the day before, but he shut them down before Astoria could get a glimpse of anything. Without another word, he stood, straightened his clothing and stepped around her, heading for the back door and his greenhouses.

 

“Draco, come on, I–”

 

He cut her off by giving in to the childish impulse of slamming the door.

 

*~*

 

“Oh sweet Merlin, he’s going to kill me.”

 

Harry stared down at the newspaper Astoria had practically thrown at him the second he had made it downstairs that morning with mounting dread. He had thought all the unpleasantness from the day before had been put behind him once he had explained it all to Draco. The picture on the front of the paper of him grinning like an idiot told him otherwise.

 

“There’s another picture and a two-page story inside.”

 

Raising his eyes from the newspaper, he met Astoria’s amused gaze before turning the pages. The picture of Draco watching him as he walked away was actually quite good, but Harry figured he was slightly biased when it came to judging just how attractive Draco was at any particular moment in time. He scanned the article quickly, knowing that no matter how nice the writer had been, Draco was still going to be pissed off. Several phrases in particular stood out to him, but they didn’t seem too bad.

 

_The warm expression Malfoy wore when Potter left him alone is clear for all to see… Potter has helped to reshape the former Death Eater’s public image… One of the only times we have been granted a glimpse into the extremely private couple’s life together… Hope to see more…_

 

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say he didn’t actually bother to read the article, did he?” Harry smiled when Astoria shook her head. “But he was still angry?”

 

“He’s never been happy about the press intruding on his life, you know that.”

 

Harry nodded, frowning. “Greenhouse or basement?”

 

“Greenhouse. The third one I would say, judging by the weather.” Astoria offered him an encouraging smile as he stepped around her. “Harry?” She waited until he paused with his hand on the doorhandle before continuing. “Go easy on him. He may be being a complete idiot about this, but it’s not without reason. This has been a huge adjustment for him and I’m not sure he feels completely stable just yet.”

 

Harry smiled and nodded to her before trotting outside and towards the greenhouses. It wasn’t like he had been planning on yelling at Draco or anything like that, but he knew that Astoria feeling the need to warn him to go easy on him would temper many of his slightly rasher impulses. Rounding the corner to the third greenhouse, he slowed his steps, bracing himself for whatever would meet him.

 

The door creaked when Harry pushed it open. It was, unfortunately, the only sound in the entire greenhouse, which Harry took as a bad sign. Generally when Draco was working there were hissing cauldrons or the sound of ingredients being sliced up; complete silence was never a good sign. Taking a quick look around, Harry moved a few steps forward, breathing deeply. The scent of freshly turned earth had always held a strange appeal for him and now that it was firmly associated with Draco in his mind, that appeal had only increased.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Leave me alone, Potter.”

 

Harry continued further into the greenhouse, keeping an eye out for Draco. “Sorry, but no.”

 

The sigh Draco let out at that was soft and sounded slightly shaky to Harry’s ears. “Why?”

 

Harry stepped around a corner to see Draco standing with his back to him. His arms were raised above his head as he reached for a high-hanging plant, raising the bottom of his black shirt so it revealed a slither of smooth, pale skin. Harry waited for Draco to lower his arms before he closed the distance between them, wrapping his own arms loosely around Draco's waist and burying his nose into his soft hair.

 

“I love you.”

 

“Don’t give me that; it won’t work this time.” Draco stepped out of the circle of Harry’s arms and turned to face him, a scowl on his face that caused worry to shiver through Harry’s stomach. “I have asked you _repeatedly_ to not risk doing anything in public that would attract the attention of the press.”

 

Watching as Draco's eyes turned the steely grey that he recognised as meaning that he was quite angry, Harry hung his head. “I know.”

 

“And yet still you ignore that one simple request.”

 

Harry’s eyes slid closed at the harshness of Draco's voice. Despite the fact that it was obvious that he was holding back, his anger still shone through. “I know, I–”

 

“Shut up.” Harry flinched. “Look at me.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Harry raised his head. Draco's arms were crossed tightly across his chest and his expression was completely closed off, save the anger burning brightly in his eyes.

 

“In the twenty years since the end of the War, I have never once been so exposed in the press. I have never _once_ allowed them to find me in any form of compromising position; that was how I kept my orientation a secret for so long. Nine months with _you_ , however and I’ve made the front page twice.”

 

“Draco–”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“No!” Breathing heavily through his nose, Harry clenched his jaw to stop himself from continuing to shout. “Look, the rest of the world seeing you the way I do isn’t a bad thing.”

 

“The way _you_ do.”

 

Harry knew the scoffed statement was aimed to hurt him when combined with one of Draco's trademark sneers, but he ignored it. Stepping forward so he was within arm’s reach – but not yet touching Draco – he let out a steady breath.

 

“Yes, the way I do.” Harry’s fingers twitched with the need to simply grab Draco and kiss him until he acknowledged the fact that Harry would never intentionally hurt him, but he resisted the temptation. What he actually needed to do here, he knew, was just tell Draco the absolute truth, complete and unembellished. “The man I fell so hard for is kind and caring and over-protective and generous and–”

 

“Harry–”

 

“And I don’t see what the harm is in showing the world the man you truly are rather than hiding behind those shields you put up.”

 

Draco sighed and stepped backwards, a brief glimpse of vulnerability flashing through his eyes as his posture relaxed fractionally. He shook his head. “My caution in public is the only thing that has kept Astoria and Scorpius safe from the publicity hounds over the years.”

 

“You do realise that you’re not alone in this anymore, right?” The question was out of Harry’s mouth before he had time to think. “Look, I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much trouble over the past few months. I know how much you hate being in the public eye and I’ve tried to respect that, I really have. The thing is...” He trailed off, unsure how to voice what was running through him.

 

“You want more.”

 

It was such a simple statement, but it caused Harry’s chest to ache with a combination of shame and need. This time when he stepped forward, Draco didn’t push him away. Wrapping one arm around Draco's waist, Harry used his other hand to brush lightly against Draco's cheekbone before drawing him into a soft kiss.

 

He knew he couldn’t do this – couldn’t push Draco beyond his comfort zone – but Draco seemed to have cut straight to the heart of the issue for Harry. He was so used to being free to touch his partner in public and to demonstrate his affection that it had been jarring for him to have to curb those impulses. If he had to be completely honest, then what he truly wanted was to be able to show Draco off the way he had with Ginny at the beginning of their relationship. He wanted people to know what an amazing person Draco was, but he knew Draco would never approve of such a public display, especially not after that morning’s newspaper. He knew that this was one of the things that would always divide them, no matter how long they spent together.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Draco hummed against Harry’s lips. “As am I. I shouldn’t have blamed you.”

 

“Despite how wrong I actually was?” As his stomach flipped, Harry knew he would never get tired of seeing the completely unguarded smiles Draco sometimes gifted him with.

 

“This is something that still needs work, isn’t it?”

 

Draco's smile had faded a little, but the warmth lingered in his eyes. As much as Harry hated to ruin the moment, he knew he had to.

 

“I think it is, yeah. I also need to get in touch with both Ron and Molly and try to work out a time when we can all meet up to try to work out the issues there.”

 

“Not yet.”

 

Refocussing, Harry’s eyes widened when he saw the heat that flashed through Draco's eyes, replacing the soft warmth that had been there. “In here?”

 

Draco's grin lit Harry’s nerve endings on fire. “Are you objecting to getting dirty?”

 

He latched onto Harry’s bottom lip and sucked hard, sending Harry’s mind spinning.

 

“Gods, no.”


	9. Chapter 9

Harry’s ear was wet. He turned his head, trying to move away from the wetness, but it followed him, adding a gentle sucking sensation. He grunted and turned to his side, batting at his ear. He didn’t care what had decided he tasted so good; it was Monday morning and he had work to get to, so there was no chance in hell he was waking before the alarm at seven.

 

An amused sound was huffed against the back of his neck, but he was left alone to drift back towards sleep. Just before he achieved oblivion, however, the wetness returned, this time accompanied by a nibbling sensation down his spine. The bed dipped and a long-fingered hand trailed slowly over Harry’s hip, the thumb rubbing lazy circles around his navel as the fingers drummed over his stomach. Unable to help himself, he pressed back into the lips sucking lightly between his shoulder blades.

 

“Draco…”

 

“About time you woke up.”

 

“You say that like I had a choice.”

 

He rolled his shoulders and arched his back, giving Draco just enough warning before he moved. His lips stretched into a wide smile when Draco's weight pressed him into the mattress the second he was flat on his back. Tilting his head back, he assumed Draco would kiss him, but he was left hanging as Draco merely watched him, his eyes seeming to glint in the gloom of the morning.

 

“I suppose you could have hexed me, or done something else equally undesirable.”

 

“Really?” Harry slid his hands down Draco's back to rest just above his arse. Putting a small amount of pressure on him caused Draco to rock his hips forward, telling Harry everything he needed to know. “And when has being under the threat of a well-deserved hexing ever stopped you?”

 

Draco seemed to relax a little, lowering himself on top of Harry. Resting his forehead against Harry’s, he softly brushed their lips together before pulling back again.

 

“Tell me what I’ve done to deserve being hexed.” He waited for Harry to open his mouth before speaking again. “Something I’ve done recently, not years ago.”

 

Harry couldn’t help grinning. He would never have used Draco's part in the War against him – that would just be cruel – but he had plenty of ammunition from when they had been children. He sighed and stretched languidly when Draco resumed his nibbling, this time on Harry’s collarbone.

 

“You don’t get on with my friends.”

 

“They don’t get on with me.” Draco moved on down Harry’s chest to his nipples.

 

“You’re always arguing with me.” Harry’s eyes slid closed as Draco bit down on his nipple.

 

“Making my point plain is not arguing.”

 

He moved over to Harry’s other nipple, sucking it lightly. Harry arched his back, needing more, but Draco's hands gripped his sides, forcing him back to the bed.

 

“Is that all you have? Hardly compelling evidence of me _deserving_ to be hexed.” He continued to suck on Harry’s nipple, the sensation pleasurable, but nowhere near enough.

 

“You’re a fucking tease, Malfoy,” Harry groaned, arching his back again in an attempt to achieve more friction.

 

Draco hummed, managing to sound insulted. “So this is what I get for trying to have a civilised conversation, is it? Threatened and abused.” Harry felt him shake his head, his soft hair brushing just beneath Harry’s chin. “Whatever happened to gratitude? To being pleased with the attentions you receive rather than–” His words were cut off when Harry flipped them over and pinned his arms above his head. “About time, Potter.”

 

Harry sat up, staring down at Draco beneath him. Now that he was properly awake, it was obvious that it wasn’t very early; that Draco had allowed him to sleep in to a decent-ish hour. The light that was filtering through the gap in the curtains was just bright enough for Harry to make out the smug expression on Draco’s face. He briefly considered charming Draco's hands to the bedhead and returning the ‘favour’ Draco had awoken him with, but the rush of rather urgent desire through him put paid to that idea. Leaning down, he grinned as Draco sucked a breath in between his teeth.

 

“Give me one good reason why I should give you what you want.”

 

Draco's eyes glittered with the knowledge that he had won. “Because what I want is you.”

 

It was such a simple statement, but the force of the emotions it caused to rush through Harry was stunning. Lowering himself onto Draco, he sealed their lips together in a heated kiss, trying to put everything he was feeling into it. His eyes squeezed shut tight against the rush of emotions and he let out an involuntary sound like a whimper. Spreading his legs, Harry rocked his hips forward to finally achieve the friction he had been craving. He didn’t remember releasing Draco's hands, but he felt them both running down his back a few seconds before Draco rolled them over. Draco nipped at Harry’s lips as he broke the kiss so he could mumble the charms to prepare him, sending jolts of desire through Harry’s stomach.

 

“Draco…” Harry stretched the vowels out and smiled when he felt Draco shudder. He had no idea why whispering Draco’s name like that produced such a reaction, but he had yet to grow tired of it. “Please.” Raising his knees caused Draco to chuckle, the sound vibrating through Harry’s chest.

 

“Harry.” Draco pushed forward, entering Harry slowly. “Look at me.”

 

Opening his eyes showed Draco hovering just above him, watching him intently. It was something Harry was growing used to still, as Ginny had never really been interested in having him watch her during sex. He bit down on his bottom lip when Draco began to move.

 

“I love you.”

 

Harry couldn’t help the ridiculously wide smile that stretched his lips. He tangled his hand through Draco's hair, pulling him down into another kiss. It was just as intense as the first, causing Harry to moan as their tongues battled for dominance. He could feel Draco angling his hips, trying to hit his prostate and anticipation lit his nerve endings on fire. The pleasure building swiftly in his groin was promising to explode with an intensity that he hadn’t achieved in a while, causing him to let out involuntary sounds encouraging Draco on.

 

“Fuck, Draco, I…”

 

Harry almost lost all control when Draco managed to hit his prostate. His vision blurred, his stomach clenched and his nails dug into the soft skin of Draco's shoulders. Draco kept to that angle, hitting Harry’s prostate every second or third thrust. Finding himself completely incapable of speech, Harry let out a string of consonants as a warning before he came. His orgasm washed over him from his head down to his toes, causing tremors to rip through him as he coated both of their stomachs with his release. Draco followed him into orgasm not long after, calling his name as he came.

 

Harry wrapped his arms around Draco when he collapsed down on top of him, panting heavily. He drifted happily on the high for longer than he knew he should, but at that stage he really couldn’t care if he was late for work or not. He owned the bloody company, so why shouldn’t he get some leeway in his starting time every now and then? He only really came around when Draco shifted on top of him, reminding him how sticky they both were.

 

“Sorry.” Draco's voice was rough, sending warmth through Harry’s chest. “Go back to sleep.”

 

He cast a silent cleansing charm over the both of them before moving to lie beside Harry. Taking a deep breath in order to try to stay awake for a little while longer, Harry reached to tangle his hand through Draco's hair again. Draco automatically leant in for another kiss, causing Harry to smile.

 

“Love you, too.”

 

Draco chuckled. “I know. Sleep now. I’ll wake you in an hour.”

 

*~*

 

“You’ve been looking particularly smug today.”

 

Draco knew he had been smiling all day, but that smile widened as Astoria curled herself onto the opposite end of the lounge he was sitting on. With the way the day had begun, he didn’t really see how he couldn’t be feeling smug. The knowledge that he had the power to have Harry reacting the way he had that morning in such a short amount of time was one of the most powerful sensations Draco had ever experienced. He had been absolutely dying to speak to someone about it, but he was unsure if Astoria would be willing to listen to him now that he was in a real relationship and not just speaking about some random he had picked up at a Ministry function. He glanced over to her, trying to judge how she would react if he began to speak about Harry.

 

“It’s been a good morning,” he equivocated.

 

Astoria laughed, throwing her head back against the lounge. “That reluctant to tell me about him, huh? And here I was, thinking it had been long enough that you’d be willing to give me some details. Never mind: I’d keep him to myself as well.”

 

She stood and ran her hand affectionately through Draco's hair on her way through the living room. Shock and a mild panic rushed through Draco's chest, causing him to reach out to grip her wrist, pulling her to a stop. She turned to meet his eyes, amusement clear on her face.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I thought…” He paused, unsure of how to put what he had been thinking into words. Clearing his throat, he started again. “Because it’s Harry, I thought you’d not want to know anything.”

 

A frown creased Astoria’s forehead before she stepped back to stand in front of him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, staring at him for a few seconds before shaking her head.

 

“I love you, Dray, but you really are a bit of a twit sometimes.”

 

Draco blinked, trying to work out whether he should be insulted or not as she moved back to the opposite end of the lounge. He observed her as she called for a house-elf and ordered tea for the both of them. It had been a while since the two of them had sat down together and had a real discussion about anything important and he was more than willing to believe that gossiping about Harry counted as a deep and meaningful conversation with the woman he had considered his sister for so many years. He smiled in thanks as she handed him his tea.

 

“So,” she began, a smirk beginning to show on her face. “What’s it like to have someone who can have you smiling like that all day?”

 

Draco was unable – and unwilling – to prevent his responding smile. “I honestly thought I’d never find someone like this.”

 

“Dray–”

 

“No, I’m not fishing for compliments or being self-depreciating. It’s the Gods honest truth: I felt as though I would never find someone like him simply because I believed no one would be able to understand the way I live my life. For the last fourteen years, _you_ have been my priority; my someone to protect against the world. Most gay men wouldn’t be able to understand why I would do what I did, why I would marry a woman just to produce an heir.” He paused to take a sip of tea. “The idea of being with a closeted man is horrifying to most people. That’s one reason I lived the way I did for so long, not settling down with anyone because we were all in the same boat.”

 

Draco trailed off, wondering whether he was making any kind of sense. A small sound from the end of the lounge drew his attention and he glanced up to see Astoria smiling at him, her eyes shining.

 

“Harry’s different, though, isn’t he?”

 

Draco nodded slowly, thinking back over the time they had spent together. Harry had fought so hard to be with him and had sacrificed so much on the way that Draco was unsure at times that he was worthy of such devotion. His grip on his cup tightened as he fought the urge to keep Harry all to himself; this was Astoria – his Tori – and he knew she was safe.

 

“He understands it all. He doesn’t like some of the things I do; this past weekend is proof of that. But the thing is…” He trailed off again, frowning as he tried to put it all into words. “It’s the differences between us that have made this relationship work. I know for a fact that my presence in his life has calmed his temper somewhat and, well… The positive effects he’s had on me are innumerable, really. I’d like to think I’ve relaxed a little, at least. Maybe… Maybe I’m not quite as bitter as I used to be about my lot in life. I don’t know.”

 

He trailed off again, staring down into his teacup. A small sniffle drew his attention immediately and he moved to gather Astoria into his arms without thinking.

 

“Tori?”

 

It took her a few minutes before she could respond without pausing to blow her nose. By the time she gathered herself, her eyes were puffy and her nose was red.

 

“This is all I have ever wanted for you, you know. It was so unfair that you had to hide behind me for so long, but I am so happy that you’ve finally found him, Dray. I–” She paused to blow her nose again. Taking a shaky breath, she pulled away from him and offered up a watery smile. “I have news and an explanation for why I’m suddenly so interested in your love life again.” She took another breath and let it out slowly before her smile widened. “I’ve met someone. Someone real this time, not just temporary. It’s only been two months, but I think he could turn out to be special.”

 

A combination of shock and joy spread through Draco, widening his eyes and leaving him with what he assumed was a stunned look on his face. He opened and closed his mouth a number of times, but was unable to express what was running through him. Instead of continuing to try, he pulled Astoria close, enveloping her in a hug that had her laughing against his shoulder.

 

“Tori…”

 

“I know, I know, I felt the same way when you told me about Harry.”

 

The smile she offered up when she pulled away from the embrace was brilliant, triggering a responding smile to echo on Draco's face. The joy spreading through him finally won out over the shock, causing him to begin to laugh. It began in the pit of his stomach and bubbled up through him, completely uncontrollably.

 

“What?”

 

“That poor man has my deepest sympathies,” he managed to gasp through the waves of laughter.

 

“Oi!” Astoria punched him on the shoulder before joining in with his laughter. “After everything I’ve done for you over the years…”

 

She left the sentence open, dissolving into giggles again when Draco began taking deep breaths in an attempt to regain some semblance of control. It was a few minutes before the two of them managed to stop making the other laugh, leaving Draco with aching cheeks and watering eyes. Taking steadying breaths, he met Astoria’s eyes.

 

“Congratulations, Tori, seriously. You deserve to find someone who’ll make you this happy all the time.”

 

The smile she offered up threatened to turn watery again, but it was then that the Apparition alarm chimed from the lobby. Draco sat up, knowing it had to be Harry, but tidying his hair anyway.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Living room.”

 

Harry’s footsteps echoed through the Manor, allowing Draco to know the second he entered the room. He tilted his head back against the lounge to meet Harry’s lips in greeting.

 

“Trying to steal my man, are you?” Harry directed at Astoria with a grin. “Not that I blame you.”

 

Astoria responded by standing and drawing Harry into a tight embrace. Draco saw her whisper something to him that had Harry smiling wide.

 

“Congratulations. You’ll have to bring him over one night and let Draco scare the hell out of him.” Draco rolled his eyes when Harry grinned at him. “Well if you don’t then I’m sure Lily would find a way to introduce herself and _then_ he’d run screaming.”

 

Astoria grinned and, after an exchange of pleasantries, excused herself, leaving the two of them alone. Draco ran his eyes over Harry, smiling when Harry raised an eyebrow at him. Standing, he drew Harry into a deep kiss. It was moments like this that Draco knew with a certainty that everything would work itself out eventually; that the world would right itself and everything would be fine.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologise for the length of this chapter. We have just gotten a rescue dog and settling him in is proving difficult. :(

Restlessness rippled across Draco shoulders, causing his fingers to twitch. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it and focus on the Chinese Chomping Cabbage that he was supposed to be slicing into fine strips. It was a little under six weeks before the wedding, but Draco had discovered that time wasn’t moving fast enough for him. Not that he thought he had anything to worry about with Harry, but after the events of the past weekend, he just wanted all of the fuss over and done with. Unfortunately, he still had two and a half weeks before the boys came home, then the three-week wait for the wedding weekend itself. And before that could happen, his parents had to arrive at the Manor.

 

Draco sighed. He knew Harry had organised to meet with Narcissa and Lucius about the wedding that coming weekend, but he was unsure whether it was such a good idea. Harry meant well, Draco knew that, but he had absolutely no idea what he was getting himself in for when he invited Narcissa Malfoy to have an opinion on something that was pretty much none of her business. Sure, Draco could give it to her that he was her son and therefore she was entitled to know the details of what they had planned, but Draco had already experienced her version of ‘helping’ with a wedding the first time around with Astoria. He was fairly certain he was still carrying around the mental scars from the ordeal.

 

He jumped and only just managed to not yelp when the Chomping Cabbage chomped down on his finger. Deciding that he wasn’t going to get any work done while he was this distracted, he placed a stasis charm over his work and slowly made his way back into the Manor. If he wasn’t going to work, then he may as well just dress for the day and find something he could do that was able to distract him. The sound of footsteps drew him towards the hallway from the kitchen and he nearly ran right into Harry, who grinned at him.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Draco's eyes ran automatically up Harry’s body, taking in his form-fitting black trousers and the deep blue shirt he seemed to prefer to wear to the Foundation. It appeared to Draco that his mind had found its distraction from the thoughts of his Mother, if the warmth pooling in his chest was any indication. He hummed in response, earning himself a low chuckle from Harry.

 

“Right back at you.”

 

Harry stepped forward and drew Draco into a soft kiss. He tasted of toothpaste and smelled so fresh and clean that Draco found himself gripped by the ridiculous urge to dirty him in some way. He attributed it to the restlessness he had been gripped by all morning and attempted to push it aside, but it seemed that it wasn’t going to be ignored. Tangling a hand through Harry’s hair, Draco tugged him into a better position so he could deepen the kiss. The taste of spearmint toothpaste overwhelmed his senses and he allowed his mind to drift on the warm feeling that had been building for the past minute or so. Disappointment flooded through him when Harry broke the kiss. He followed Harry’s lips forwards, nowhere near ready to let go just then.

 

“We should elope.”

 

Draco blinked his eyes open in surprise. He hadn’t meant to say anything, but now that it was out there, he was finding the idea of just grabbing Harry, the kids and Astoria as their witness and finding a small church with a discrete pastor who would marry them on the cheap more and more appealing.

 

“Elope?” Harry’s eyes glittered with amusement as his hands slid slowly down the front of Draco's work shirt, playing with the buttons as they went. “You’re not worried that I’m getting cold feet are you?”

 

“No.” Draco hooked his fingers through the belt loops of Harry’s trousers and dragged him to him again. “I just…” He trailed off, unsure how to express what he was thinking.

 

Harry’s responding smile was warm and reassuring. “You’re worried about the press because of what happened on the weekend?”

 

Draco's eyes slid shut again as he rocked forward, leaning into Harry’s chest. The fact that Harry could tell what was wrong with so little to go on caused a small smile to tilt Draco's lips up. The agitation he had been gripped with earlier made itself known again as they stood there, raising the hair on the back of Draco's neck and causing goose bumps to rise on his arms.

 

“It’s stupid, I know it is, but I can’t help thinking they’ll get to one of the kids or somehow manage to ruin everything…” He shook his head and re-opened his eyes to see Harry smiling warmly at him. “You don’t believe me?”

 

Harry’s fingers halted their exploration of Draco's buttons to slide up and around his shoulders. “Our children are some of the most well-protected children I have ever seen. There’s protective spells on both the Manor and Grimmauld, all of the mail goes through the lawyers before being forwarded to either house, and all four of them have grown up knowing who they can and can’t trust. As for someone managing to ruin everything we have together…” His smile turned devious as he leant in to brush their lips together softly. “I am more than willing to curse any idiot who tries to take you away from me.”

 

Draco couldn’t help chuckling as amusement bubbled inside him. “And you have the hide to call _me_ overprotective.”

 

Standing there with Harry warm in his arms, his worries did seem ridiculous, despite the fact that he knew they really weren’t. Right at that moment, however, Draco was just thankful that there seemed to be something about Harry that forced him to relax. He was more than happy to wallow in the sensation for the time being, wrapping his arms tightly around Harry’s waist and just breathing his scent.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“You’re actually worried about this one, aren’t you? I mean really, properly worried, not just ‘oh this may happen one day’ kind of worried.”

 

Draco could easily make out the concern in Harry’s expression when he pulled back. Reluctance to open up spread through him, but he forcibly pushed it to the back of his mind with a gusty sigh. He nodded.

 

“I am.” He watched as Harry frowned, knowing that there really wasn’t anything Harry could do or say to make this one better. “It’s alright, though. I know both houses are as secure as we can make them and that the kids are all fine. It’s just something that I’ll have to get used to. It’s only another six weeks, after all.”

 

Harry watched him for a few more seconds before pulling back properly. There was an odd look in his eyes that Draco couldn’t quite place.

 

“If I didn’t absolutely _have_ to be at work today, I would take the day off and spend it showing you just how happy the kids are. We’d go to Hogwarts and see the boys, and we’d take Lily off to school and speak to her teachers.” He held a hand up when Draco opened his mouth to inform him that he didn’t need to bother going to all that trouble. “Then I’d actually show you all the protective charms on Grimmauld. I swear, that place is nearly as enchanted as Hogwarts thanks to your ancestors.”

 

Draco smiled. “Good to see the family paranoia has finally paid off.” He pulled back from the embrace fully and stepped over to the stove. “Tea? And what’s so important about work today?”

 

“It’s not work itself that’s so important today, it’s lunch.” Draco heard a chair scrape against the floor as Harry sat down. “I’m going to speak to Ron today. I figured it would be easier to speak to him away from Molly before I confronted her and the rest of the family.”

 

“Before _we_ confront the rest of them, you mean?” Draco turned back with two cups of tea in his hands, despite the fact that Harry hadn’t answered his question. “I’m part of the reason you’re having troubles with them, so I should be helping to work towards a solution.” He almost spilled the tea when Harry shot up out of the chair and pulled him into a harsh kiss. “Harry?”

 

“Thank you.” Harry took his cup of tea from Draco's hand and moved back to the chair at the table like nothing had happened, causing Draco to shake his head. “You really don’t have to, though. Not if you don’t want to. I’ll be fine with them on my own.”

 

Taking the chair across the table from Harry, Draco smiled. “No, I do have to. You’ve made an effort with my parents, so now it’s my turn to do the same for you.”

 

The wide smile that Harry shot him told Draco that no matter how reluctant he was to try to make friends with the Weasley clan, it would be worth it. He had already been through much worse in order to keep Harry – his sinuses aching in the cold weather was proof enough of that – so this couldn’t be too much worse, could it?


	11. Chapter 11

“Harry, over here!”

 

Peering through the gloom of The Leaky Cauldron, Harry grinned when he finally managed to make out Ron’s bright red hair across the room. Of all the things that had changed about Diagon Alley over the years, Harry was actually glad that The Leaky had stayed the same, although he had no idea why. Neville and Hannah had managed to update the pub without losing any of the atmosphere, which always reminded Harry of his first time there with Hagrid. He breathed deeply and smiled at the familiar scent before refocussing.

 

He wound his way through the battered-looking tables and chairs, nodding to the people there he knew. He almost stopped when he thought he caught a glance of Mungdungus Fletcher in the back, but he knew that this lunch was too important for him to ignore. When he reached Ron’s table, it was to find he wasn’t alone: Hermione and Percy occupied two of the other seats in the booth. All three of them grinned at Harry as he walked up.

 

“Hey there, mate.”

 

“Harry.”

 

“How are you?”

 

Harry couldn’t help grinning back as all three of them spoke over each other. He nodded to Percy as he slid into the booth beside him.

 

“I’m good, thanks. It’s good to see you both,” he added, addressing Percy and Hermione. “It’s been a while.”

 

“Just them?” Ron chuckled and shook his head, a wide smile stretching across his face.

 

Harry raised an eyebrow and rubbed a hand along his jaw. “I’ve seen _you_ recently.”

 

Thankfully, Ron took it for the joke it was, shooting Harry a sheepish grin when Hermione turned to him with a questioning look. Harry watched the quick whispered conversation the two of them had with interest. It appeared to him that Ron had forgotten to mention their altercation to Hermione, which answered the question of why he hadn’t heard from her afterwards. Choosing to give them some privacy, he turned to Percy.

 

“How have you been recently? It’s strange to not be able to just run into you at work anymore.”

 

“Oh, believe me, it’s not just weird for you.” Percy ran a hand through his hair before taking a gulp from the drink sitting before him. “I never really realised how much I relied on being able to find you at the cafeteria, or in your office when I needed support for some bill or other. Or even to just grouse about people and life in general.”

 

Harry couldn’t help chuckling. Percy was right: it had been a major adjustment in not just Harry’s life when he had moved on from the Auror Corps. Percy hadn’t dropped into the office all that often over the years, but the times he had had broken the monotony of the day for Harry quite well. Of course, he was still in regular contact with many of the friends he had made in the Ministry over the years, but it just wasn’t the same as working with them all on a regular basis. Realising that Percy would have much more information on certain goings-on in the Ministry than he did, Harry steered their conversation towards Ministry gossip. He had been quite surprised when he had realised after the end of the War that he and Percy got along well under certain circumstances. They chatted and filled each other in on their children and lives until the waitress interrupted both conversations.

 

“Are you ready to order?”

 

Harry took the time to covertly examine Ron’s body language while they all placed their lunch orders. One of the perks of having been an Auror for so long was that – no matter that he had to focus to do it rather than it coming naturally to him – he was a fair judge of other people. Thankfully, Ron’s relaxed posture and easy laughter told Harry that, for the time being at least, he was in a rather good mood. Once their orders had been placed, a slightly uneasy silence fell over their table.

 

Harry sat forward, his elbows resting on the table, but found that that position had him staring straight at Ron. He immediately leant back, unsure – or maybe he was unwilling – how to break the silence. He knew he had to speak to Ron about what had happened and his general treatment of Draco, but how did he do that without coming across as more assertive than he wanted to? Pissing Ron off by sounding like he was accusing him of something was definitely not something Harry wanted to do at that point, especially in front of Hermione and Percy. His attention snapped back to the table when he heard a sharp sigh.

 

“Oh for… This is ridiculous!” Hermione leant forward over her mug of Butterbeer. “I take it the two of you have had some kind of argument _again_?”

 

Harry opened his mouth to protest her use of the word ‘again’, but immediately shut it when he realised that it was actually appropriate these days. His gaze fell to the table as the realisation washed over him that he and Ron tended to fight much more these days than they ever had before. While he knew most of their arguments were actually logical things to argue over, it was annoying to constantly be at loggerheads with his best friend. They _had_ to resolve this or one of them would eventually say something or do something that the other considered unforgivable and then Harry would lose the first friend he had ever had. He took a deep breath and raised his head, ready to apologise, but Ron beat him to it.

 

“Look, Harry, I’m sorry, alright?” Surprise flittered through Harry’s chest, but Ron barrelled on, not giving him a chance to respond. “But please just listen to me for a minute. I know you want me to be able to be civil to Malfoy. I know that, considering it was all over twenty years ago, I should be over a lot of the stuff that he did to us. But, the thing is, _he’s_ the reason Bill is scarred and he also nearly killed me. You _can_ see where I’m coming from with this one, right?”

 

Harry sighed. These were arguments that he had gone over and over himself since he and Draco had first gotten together. Hell, he had gone over them with most of the Weasleys before as well. His problem, it seemed, was that he simply couldn’t reconcile the _Draco_ he knew now with the _Malfoy_ he had been back then. He knew it sounded strange, but it was like they were two different people. Running a hand through his hair, he prepared to go over it once again.

 

“I can, but–”

 

“He’s changed. Yeah, I know: you keep telling me that every chance you get.”

 

“And yet you still refuse to give him the chance to prove it to you,” Harry answered hotly, firing up immediately at the dismissive tone to Ron’s voice. “You wanted me to listen to you, so now you can listen to me. Do you really think I would fall in love with the person Draco was twenty years ago? Not just lust, but real, proper love? He has grown and matured past all that childish bullying he used to do and has become a man I am _proud_ to say has fallen as much in love with me as I am with him.” Taking another deep breath, Harry let it out slowly. “I am aware of everything he has done in the past. I was, in fact, actually there personally for the worst of it. I’m not going to make excuses for him or try to explain away what he did, but you need to know that he isn’t that scared boy anymore. He is kind and generous and all that stupid stuff people say they want in a partner and you know what? Ginny nearly killed him because of our relationship, but he still stuck with me. Even half-dead and doped up on so many painkillers that he nearly couldn’t stand on his own, he still made sure that night that I knew that he didn’t blame me; that he still wanted to be with me.”

 

Harry fell silent, watching Ron closely. He knew Ron would most likely not believe him; he never had before, so why would he now? He didn’t get the chance to find out what Ron thought, though, as a quiet voice piped up next to him.

 

“Draco was conscious after being hit with those curses?” Percy’s full attention was on Harry, his blue eyes sharp as he leant in. “The media always say he passed out the second he was hit.”

 

Dragging his attention away from Ron, Harry leant back against the seat. “He was conscious for about the first half minute before the blood loss got to him. He awoke the second the Blood-Replenishing Potions had given him back enough to keep him conscious, according to one of the Healers I spoke to.”

 

All conversation stopped as the waitress arrived at their table with all four plates of food floating behind her. Harry smiled his thanks, then stabbed his fork through his steak, frustration at his own inability to express what he wanted to coursing through him. Percy allowed him to begin to mash his peas and potato together before speaking again.

 

“What about the pain?”

 

Harry’s lips pressed together as he remembered the fear he had felt seeing Draco in so much pain that he couldn’t move without grimacing. “They gave him the strongest painkilling potion they could, but it only lasted six or so hours. It had an opiate effect, causing him to fall asleep at random intervals and to lose track of the conversation around him.” Harry’s jaw clenched when the memory of Draco's frustration with himself in the hospital flashed across his eyes. “His sinuses still ache in the cold. The Healer said that will never go away.”

 

“You’ve never spoken of that night to us – or, well, _me_ – before, you know.”

 

Staring down at the mangled mess he had made of his food, Harry nodded. “I know. And it’s not just you I haven’t told. It’s not something I like being able to remember.”

 

“Do you think you could tell us now? Is there anything that didn’t come out during the trial?”

 

“Percy, what are you doing?”

 

Harry raised his head when he heard Percy sigh. Ron and Hermione were both watching their interaction with curiosity. Ron’s question hadn’t been asked with scorn, so Harry felt free to sit back and ignore his lunch for the time being, just as curious as to how Percy would explain his line of questioning.

 

“I’m trying to understand, Ron.”

 

“You want to understand Malfoy?”

 

“No. Well, _yes_ , but… It’s difficult to explain.” Percy ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. “Just bear with me here, alright?”

 

Ron sat still for a long moment. When his eyes flicked from Percy to Harry, Harry had to resist the urge to jump. “Go on then, Harry, tell us exactly _why_ you fell in love with a man who has done nothing but make your life miserable every chance he got.”

 

Unable to resist, Harry rolled his eyes. “You want an explanation beyond that he makes me happy, right?”

 

“Right.”

 

Taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly, Harry dropped his gaze to his food again. He allowed his mind to drift over the differences between his relationships with Draco and Ginny. He thought about how he felt when he was with both of them, he thought about how easy or difficult it was to just be alone with both of them; he also thought about the levels of desire he felt for the both of them. Draco came out the clear winner each time in his mind, but how to explain those feelings to Ron? Munching on a couple of mouthfuls of mushy food before he spoke, Harry used the time to organise what he wanted to say in his mind.

 

“The Ball wasn’t when I decided I wanted to stay with Draco. Don’t get me wrong; discovering what he was willing to go through in order to stay with me was a significant moment in our relationship, but it wasn’t what decided me on him. I don’t know what Hermione told you about the night I told Ginny about Draco, but he came to Grimmauld when I asked him to, despite the fact that, technically, what we had at that point wasn’t what anyone would consider a real relationship. He looked after me when I was basically too drunk to stand, he spent the night at Grimmauld to make sure I was safe and he stayed half the next day after Astoria and Hermione had left. When things were falling apart with Ginny, Draco was there for me.”

 

“Is that it?”

 

“He held the press back so we could get the true story of what happened out, he was there for me when things became overwhelming, he loves Lily and the boys, he’s taken all four of us into his home without question, he sacrificed his privacy and comfortable lifestyle for me, and he doesn’t stop me from touching him when we’re alone. Which Ginny did, by the way. I can be myself around him without facing scorn. And…” He paused to take a sip from his drink when he realised his throat was dry. “He understands me. I swear, if you gave him the chance, you’d see that he really has changed for the better over the years. I think Astoria had a lot to do with that, because he’s not as cruel as he was in school. He’s over-protective of the people he sees as being _his_ , but it’s that protectiveness that he sees as having kept himself and his family safe for as long as it has. I really do love him, Ron, and I want you to be able to see why.”

 

Harry glanced around the table as he fell quiet again. Ron’s eyes were locked onto his own food, avoiding Harry’s gaze. He pushed his food around the plate with his fork, a scowl on his face. Giving up on watching him, Harry glanced over to both Hermione and Percy. Neither of them seemed to want to say anything, which sent a shot of what was probably inappropriate amusement through Harry’s chest. The idea that he was able to render both Hermione and Percy speechless in one go was something he hadn’t ever thought he would be able to manage.

 

“Well? No one has anything to say?”

 

“I’m not sure that there’s all that much _to_ be said, honestly, Harry.” Percy’s voice was low, but Harry heard him clearly. “It’s obvious that you’re not lying about your feelings for him, not that I thought you were. I think we need to get everyone together for just a day together. Not to discuss anything, not to have to sort through anything, just to be together. Maybe it would help if we were all able to actually see how much he cares for both you and Lily. Maybe… Maybe that would make it easier to accept?”

 

Harry sat and nodded silently. He honestly thought that confronting Draco with a bunch of Weasleys would draw his shields up tighter around him than Harry had seen in a long while, but he was willing to try. If it meant that this part of the stress that had been plaguing him would dissipate, then he thought he may be willing to try damn-near anything. He turned to face Ron before accepting Percy’s proposal, needing to know whether Ron would be willing to try it.

 

“Well?”

 

Ron stayed quiet for a little while longer, sending Harry’s nerves singing with tension. When he sighed and threw himself back against the seat cushions, Harry had to smile.

 

“Alright. _Maybe_ this will work, maybe it won’t. But… I’m willing to at least try.”

 

Harry’s smile widened enough so that his cheeks began to ache. He turned it on Percy, who shot him a confused look.

 

“I swear, Perce, I could just kiss you right now.”

 

Percy chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I could live without that kind of demonstration that you don’t like women, Harry.”

 

Unable to help it, Harry began to laugh as the tension he was being gripped with slowly began to dissolve. Leaning back against the seat, he shot Ron a wide grin once he had gotten control over himself again.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Ron held a finger up and wagged it in front of Harry’s face. “I’m not guaranteeing anything, mate–”

 

“Oh, believe me, Ron, the very fact that you’re willing to try is enough for me at the moment,” Harry interrupted, still grinning wide. “But, look, enough of that. How’s Rosie doing?”

 

They spent the rest of lunch discussing their various children and how they were doing in school or otherwise. Harry filled them in on Lily’s progress in ‘studying’ potions, despite the fact that she had no wand and therefore couldn’t actually make a potion yet. He left The Leaky that afternoon feeling lighter than he had in a while, still floating on the bubble of happiness that had blossomed in his chest when Ron had agreed to give Draco a chance. He knew they still had a ways to go yet, but this seemed like a good start.

 

*~*

 

_Be dressed in something old and comfortable that you don’t mind getting dirty when I get home with Lily. We’re going out._

 

Draco stood in the formal living room of the Manor dressed in his work clothes, feeling absolutely foolish. He had no idea why he had followed the instructions on the note Harry had sent him, but he was now seriously reconsidering the action. Surely being told to dress in something he didn’t mind getting dirty was a bad sign, right? He jumped when the Apparition alarm sounded.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Draco!” Lily ran into the living room from the lobby, her hair flying behind her. “Dad says we’re going flying!”

 

“Flying?” He automatically knelt down and spread his arms, allowing Lily to run up to him and throw her arms around his neck. “Are we really?”

 

“That we are.”

 

Harry followed behind Lily at a slower pace. Draco stood with Lily in his arms and couldn’t help returning Harry’s wide smile. “You look happy.”

 

Draco's brows rose towards his hairline when Harry leant in to place a quick kiss on his lips. There was something about his posture that Draco couldn’t quite place; something that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

 

“There’s no reason for me not to be.” He grabbed Lily from Draco's arms and sent her upstairs to change out of her school clothes before turning to wrap Draco in his arms. “I had lunch with Ron, Hermione and Percy today.”

 

The twinkle that entered Harry’s eyes when Draco's hands traced around the waistband of his trousers told him that it was possible that something had actually gone right this time. “And?”

 

“Would you be willing to, I don’t know, go on a picnic with the Weasleys sometime soon?”

 

“A picnic?”

 

“Yes.” Harry leant closer so their lips brushed gently when he spoke. “A blanket on some grass somewhere. Food and drink. Screaming children. Sunburn. A picnic.”

 

“Smartarse.”

 

Draco closed the tiny gap between them and opened Harry’s lips with his tongue. The taste of chamomile tea flooded his mouth, causing him to smile into the kiss. The warm feeling he got when he was with Harry was more than enough to chase away any worries he felt over what was going to happen in the future and he leant into Harry’s chest, enjoying the feeling of just having him there.

 

“Is that a yes?”

 

Draco hummed, but didn’t open his eyes. “If I say yes, will you tell me why I would want to have a picnic with people who don’t like me?”

 

“Because I asked you to?”

 

Draco smiled at the question. “Is that your final answer, or do you want to try again?”

 

Harry’s grip tightened around Draco's shoulders, drawing him close enough that they were now leaning on each other. “I love you.”

 

Draco re-opened his eyes so he could see the warmth in Harry’s expression. “This is yet another attempt at trying to get us to get along, isn’t it?”

 

“Please, Draco. Please just try for me. I can accept that you’ll never be best friends with any of them, but Ron has actually agreed to give this a chance and if it means that I get to keep my family…”

 

He trailed off, his eyes pleading. Running his fingers along the small of Harry’s back, Draco took a breath and let it out slowly.

 

“What do I get in return?”

 

Harry grinned before planting a kiss on his lips. “Lily can spend the night with Molly that day. I’m sure there’s at least one room we haven’t defiled in the Manor yet.”

 

“I’m not sure it would be a good idea to let _you_ anywhere near my parent’s bedroom, Potter.”

 

“Oh, I don’t know…” There was a thoughtful tone to Harry’s voice that had suspicion trailing down Draco's spine. “It’d probably be the best sex that room’s seen in years, if ever.”

 

Amusement bubbled up in Draco's chest, but he held it back for the time being. Leaning in closer, he narrowed his eyes. “You’re trying to convince me to sleep with you by mentioning my _parents_ having sex?”

 

Harry sighed, mischief still sparkling in his eyes. “You’re right. I highly doubt Lucius has it in him anymore.”

 

With a short bark of a laugh at the shock that Draco was unable to prevent from spreading across his face, Harry released him and practically bounced off towards the stairs in the lobby. Draco shook his head. Whatever it was that had been decided that day at lunch, it had left Harry in a very good mood. He had no idea whether that boded well for him or not, but he discovered that he was strangely willing to find out.


	12. Chapter 12

“Ah, good morning, Mr. Malfoy! How are you today?”

 

“Very well, thank you, Iris.” Draco smiled as he moved to stand at the edge of the desk Harry’s secretary was sitting behind. “Is he in?”

 

“No, sorry.” Iris pulled out her wand and waved it through the air, causing a sheet of paper to fly into her hand. “He is… At the orphanage, it looks like. There isn’t a meeting scheduled today, so I’d say he’s playing with the kids. Would you like me to call him back here?”

 

“No, no.” Draco waved a hand through the air, dismissing the notion. “He doesn’t know I’m here, so I might just go on over myself. I’m going to try to convince him to take lunch off for once.”

 

“Good luck with that,” Iris laughed. She waved him off with a wide smile.

 

It had been a while since Draco had dropped in at Harry’s work, but he figured that that day was more in need of a lunch out than any other. A mild sense of dread had been building in Draco's chest ever since Harry had informed him of his plan with Narcissa to have her and Lucius over in order to go over the wedding plans. Now the time had finally arrived, Draco felt the need to arm Harry as much as possible with warnings of colour schemes to avoid, flowers to not suggest, and traditions that would most likely be forced on him. His parents were to arrive the next morning at ten and stay until just after midday Sunday and Draco could only hope that Harry wouldn’t be a gibbering mess afterwards. Astoria had, of course, informed him that he was worrying over nothing, but Draco clearly remembered the look of horror on her face after the first time Narcissa decided that she should ‘help’ with their wedding. A loud shriek pulled Draco up short.

 

“You can’t do that!”

 

“That’s cheating!”

 

“Harry, do something!”

 

Draco lengthened his steps, hurrying to a window that showed the courtyard shared by both the school and the orphanage. It was a large open area that Draco had found Harry in many times before, so it didn’t surprise him to find Harry standing in the centre of the yard, surrounded by children of all ages. Stepping to the side so he wasn’t immediately visible from outside, Draco watched as Harry interacted with the children.

 

“Alright, alright guys, come on. You have to play fair, Elias. Not everyone is as big as you are.”

 

Draco's eyes followed Harry’s gaze, landing on a boy who was at least half a foot taller than every other child there. Standing at the end of the yard, he offered Harry up a cheeky grin.

 

“I’m nearly taller than you now, you know, Harry.”

 

Harry groaned dramatically, causing the other children to laugh. “Don’t remind me!”

 

Draco had to smile when Harry began rearranging the children around him, putting them in some kind of formation for a game. Having watched the children playing together before, he knew that Elias would have an advantage over the rest of them no matter what they played, mostly because he was older than the rest of them. Harry didn’t exclude him in any way, though. Bouncing around the sidelines playing adjudicator, Harry encouraged each of the children to join in in any way they could with the game, which looked to be little more than a bunch of children running in circles to Draco.

 

Now that his attention was on Harry, Draco discovered himself to be incredibly unwilling to look away. Seeing him this happy and free wasn’t exactly rare, but it was a sight that Draco never got sick of. Laughing and shouting along with the children, Harry ran up and down the courtyard, his face shining with sweat. Warmth pooled in Draco's stomach when Harry stopped a few steps away from his window, giving Draco a look at the happiness shining brightly on his face.

 

“Come on Penny, kick it over here!”

 

Harry’s shout pulled Draco's attention back towards the group of children. Standing just off to the side was a small girl, the ball resting on the grass in front of her. Draco's mind raced, automatically matching the girl’s appearance to the little bits of information about her that Harry had given him over the past few weeks. He already knew most of the children by sight, so connecting this ‘Penny’ to the ‘Penelope’ Harry had spoken about was easy enough. Taking a few cautionary steps back away from the glass just in case, Draco couldn’t help the tiny smile that tilted his lips upwards. He knew for a fact that Harry could catch a tiny Snitch while racing on a broom, so this ball kicked by a child would be nothing. The feeling that Harry would allow it to get past him wouldn’t leave Draco alone, though.

 

“Kick it Penny!”

 

“Kick it past him!”

 

“Kick it _at_ him!”

 

Draco watched as the girl backed up a few steps then ran forward, her eyes locked on the ball in front of her. Sure enough, once she kicked it, Harry’s reflexes proved way too slow and he missed the ball by inches. It hit the window Draco had been standing behind with a _bang_.

 

“Draco!”

 

Harry’s surprised exclamation had Draco fighting back a smile. He moved over towards the door that lead into the yard a little way down the hall. The scent of dirt and sweat hit him the second he pushed the door open and he took a deep breath, enjoying the smell before speaking.

 

“Slowing down in your old age, Potter?”

 

Harry grinned as the children sniggered behind him. “I must be. Not that I see _you_ in here.”

 

“Yeah, Draco,” Elias called from across the yard. “You should come play with us one day. We play Quidditch some days. Harry says you’re really good at Quidditch!”

 

A quick glance over to Harry showed a deep blush spreading from his chest up to his hairline. His head was ducked, but Draco had no problem making out the signs of embarrassment at Elias’ big-mouthed statement. Filing the fact that Harry apparently bragged about him to the children away for later examination, Draco decided to take pity on him this one time.

 

“Perhaps next time, Elias. Unfortunately, this time I’m actually here to steal Harry away from you all for lunch.”

 

“Lunch?”

 

Draco offered Elias a small bow. “If you’ll let me, of course.”

 

“We-e-e-ell…” Elias strutted down the yard, a sneaky grin on his face. “I dunno if I should allow it…”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” one of the other boys – Zeke – chimed in, obviously catching Elias’ mood quickly. “You’d have to make sure you got him back before he has to get back to work.”

 

Elias sidled up to Draco, still grinning. Meeting his eyes proved to be the wrong move, because it caused Elias to wag his eyebrows and shoot Draco a knowing look. Draco instinctively took a step backwards, shock rippling through him, but a few quick mental calculations later told him Elias was more than old enough to be making suggestive gestures. He blinked rapidly, trying to regain control over the situation.

 

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” With those whispered words, Elias winked, then grabbed Zeke’s shoulder and steered him back towards the rest of the children. “Alright guys, what now?”

 

Taking the chance offered him, Draco turned and stepped quickly back into the shade of the hall, shock still causing his mind to buzz. He could have sworn that he hadn’t been so forward when he was that age. Elias was only three years older than Scorpius, after all! If he’d been so bold as to make such a suggestion to an adult when he was fifteen…

 

“What did he say?” Harry’s arm slid around Draco's waist, causing him to jump. “Sorry.”

 

Harry stepped backwards, removing his arm as quickly as it appeared. It left Draco with a strange sense of loss and he rubbed his hands down the tops of his arms as he turned to face Harry.

 

“No, it’s fine; just startled me is all.” Draco knew it was his own fault that Harry was trying to prevent himself from touching him in public. He also knew he couldn’t just change his mind about when and where he allowed that kind of affection – for lack of a better word – to be shown in public. He sighed, pushing the need to allow Harry his way to the back of his mind. “It appears that he believes I was not actually speaking of food when I said lunch.”

 

“Damn.”

 

Draco's head snapped around to see a glint in Harry’s eyes that he knew too well. Before he could ask anything, however, Harry grinned and strode off towards where Draco knew the Apparition point was. Following slowly behind, Draco tried to order his thoughts again. His skin tingled with the awareness that Harry had apparently taken his words in the same way Elias had, sending thoughts through his mind that he had trouble suppressing. He shook his head. This was definitely _not_ the reason he had come to the Foundation that day, no matter what Harry thought. In fact, the idea of a quickie during lunch hadn’t even crossed Draco's mind that day until Elias had begun waggling his eyebrows at him. Now that the thought was there, though…

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco's stomach flipped pleasantly at the deep sound of Harry’s voice. Shaking his head to clear it, he couldn’t help the small scowl that crossed his face. He glanced up to see that they had made it to the Apparition point much faster than he had expected them to. Harry was standing with his hand outstretched, a warm smile on his face.

 

“I won’t bite, I swear.” Flustered as he was, Draco could only nod, causing Harry to chuckle. “Look, I’m sorry about Elias. He’s right at that age where he thinks that he knows everything and has no real filter.”

 

A quick glance around told Draco that they had the room to themselves for the time being. He stepped up past Harry’s outstretched hand so he could wrap his arms around Harry’s waist.

 

“I believe I haven’t once been encouraged to have sex by a teenager since I was a teenager myself.”

 

One of Harry’s eyebrows rose up towards his hairline as he looped his arms around Draco's neck. “Are you trying to convince me that you haven’t ever been hit on by some sweet little eighteen year old over the years? Because I find that hard to believe.”

 

The flipping of Draco's stomach and tingling of his skin was getting more and more difficult to ignore. He tightened his grip on Harry’s waist, dragging him close to his chest. “No eighteen year old has ever been able to hold my attention longer than it took for me to check out his arse before turning away.”

 

“Hmm, I wouldn’t have minded a piece of _your_ eighteen year old arse.”

 

Draco couldn’t help rolling his eyes. “ _You_ were too far in the closet to see the light of day when we were eighteen.”

 

“Not now, though.”

 

Harry sealed their lips together just before he twisted, taking Draco away from the Foundation in one smooth movement. Expecting to land in their bedroom in the Manor, Draco gasped at the chill air he was greeted with when they landed. Breaking the kiss, he glanced around to discover Harry had brought him to the kitchen of Grimmauld.

 

“Harry?”

 

The room was as dark as always, despite the fact that the day was actually quite bright in comparison. Automatically widening his eyes to see better, Draco waved his wand to light the torches that hung around the room. They lit to reveal Harry rummaging in what Draco knew to be the cool room.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

It took Harry a little while to respond, but when he pulled his head back out of the cupboard, he was grinning wide. “Well, since you seemed so insistent on actually eating something…” He trailed off, but waved something towards Draco that caused his eyes to widen. “I thought you’d like this idea.”

 

_Chocolate flavouring…_ Draco's tongue flicked out to wet dry lips. “Harry…”

 

“Draco.” The confidence dripping from Harry’s voice sent a shiver through Draco. “Breathe.”

 

Draco's eyes slid shut as he let out a breath he hadn’t been aware that he was holding. This was almost the exact opposite of the intentions he had arrived at the Foundation with, but he couldn’t find the willpower to put a stop to what Harry was suggesting. His heartrate kicked up when he heard the soft thud of the bottle being placed on the table near him. The heat of Harry’s body followed soon after, but Draco kept his eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of suspense that accompanied the sensory deprivation.

 

“Harry?”

 

A soft hum was Harry’s only verbal response. Draco's lips opened when he felt the brush of Harry’s hands along his collar, sucking in a soft breath just before their lips connected in a soft kiss. The confidence Harry had displayed earlier seemed to extend into this, as he took control over the kiss immediately, manoeuvring Draco until he was apparently more comfortable. Obediently stepping backwards, Draco soon felt the edge of the table press into his thighs.

 

“Lie down.”

 

Harry’s magic washed over Draco, Vanishing his clothing with a thought. Draco found himself rather grateful that he had thought to light the torches when he reopened his eyes, as he wouldn’t have wanted to miss the sight before him due to poor lighting: Harry, completely naked, his wand in one hand and the flavouring in the other. The grin Harry wore could only be called lewd. Feeling behind him, Draco shifted up onto the table, his eyes still locked on Harry. Anticipation ignited his nerve endings when Harry adjusted his stance and he drew in another short breath only to be disappointed when Harry didn’t move further. Draco let out a slightly shaky breath as he lay down on the table, feeling slightly more exposed than he would like to at that particular moment. Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long before Harry climbed onto the table as well, straddling Draco's thighs. He leant close, his breath brushing over Draco's lips.

 

“Have you tasted chocolate flavouring off someone before?”

 

The torchlight glinted off Harry’s glasses, obscuring Draco's view of his eyes. He reached up to pull them off before responding, needing to see Harry’s reaction to his words.

 

“Not for a very long time.” His voice cracked and he paused to clear it before continuing. “And it was caramel.”

 

Harry huffed out a short laugh. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to help there; this time at least.” Draco's breath hissed between his teeth when he felt the first cold, slightly slimy touch of the chocolate sliding down his breastbone. “I’d like to do the tasting this time.”

 

The contrast between the cold chocolate and the heat of Harry’s tongue as he licked it up had Draco's eyes sliding shut in pleasure. It didn’t seem as though Harry was going to give him too much time to savour the first sensations, however, as the coldness next hit one of Draco's nipples. He grinned at Harry’s apparent impatience before first Harry’s tongue then his lips sucked away the chocolate. His pulse climbing with each lick and suck, Draco relaxed into the sensations, allowing Harry to take him higher and higher. This level of trust in someone was something Draco had never really thought he would be able to achieve, but it never even occurred to him that Harry would do anything other than continue to pleasure him; not even with his eyes closed as they were.

 

Draco's hands clenched in anticipation as Harry neared his cock, waiting for the moment the chocolate would be poured all over him. His breath hitched and his cock throbbed in expectation when Harry’s hot breath huffed over him, but Harry continued to move downwards, spreading a decent amount of the chocolate over Draco's inner thighs. Draco raised his knees automatically, encouraging Harry to lick over his thighs, which had always been sensitive but never seemed to receive enough attention.

 

“Draco…”

 

Draco shivered, biting his bottom lip to stop himself from groaning as Harry stretched out his name until it was almost a moan. The first touch of the cold chocolate at the base of his cock broke Draco's concentration enough that he let out a small whine and arched his back, raising himself up off the table.

 

“You are so fucking hot like this…”

 

His fingers curling into claws at the first touch of Harry’s rough tongue to his straining cock, Draco scraped his nails down the wood of the table. The contrast of the cold of the chocolate and the heat of Harry’s tongue was so delicious that Draco was slightly worried that it would prove to be too much too soon. He held his breath, trying to force himself to focus on something – anything – else in order to hold on. Harry didn’t help by humming the second he finished the first stripe of chocolate.

 

“And you taste _so_ good…”

 

Unable to help himself, Draco's legs fell to the sides, offering himself as obviously as possible. “Please, Harry.”

 

The fact that his voice was barely recognisable as his occurred vaguely in the back of Draco's mind, but was almost immediately wiped away when he felt the chocolate being spread over his sac. He once again bit down on his bottom lip, but not even that was able to prevent the needy whine that escaped his throat when Harry drew his balls slowly into his mouth, one at a time. Draco's breath came in harsh gasps as Harry sucked every last bit of chocolate from him, sending almost painful jolts of need through Draco's stomach with each breath.

 

His stomach muscles clenched when Harry swirled his tongue and, completely unable to prevent himself, Draco’s hand flew to his throbbing cock. Stroking rapidly, he worked to bring himself to completion as Harry sucked on his balls, needing that release so badly he was barely breathing. Draco's mouth opened when Harry’s hand joined his, but the only sounds he was capable of were harsh pants and half-groans. It was the twisting of Harry’s hand just as he swallowed around Draco's tight sac that brought about his orgasm. He normally would have been embarrassed by the sound he let out as he came, but Draco was so relieved to finally have the release that he just collapsed down onto the table, panting harshly. A rush of hot liquid hitting his stomach a few seconds later told Draco that Harry had brought himself to completion as well. He managed to stay awake long enough to settle Harry against his chest.

 

*~*

 

“Draco?”

 

Harry knew Draco was awake: he had been staring at the ceiling of the kitchen for the past few minutes. The question he really had was whether Draco's mind was with him or was he still drifting along in his afterglow? It had been at least forty-five minutes that they had been lying there, according to the ticking clock on top of the oven, which Harry considered more than enough time for Draco to have come out of his stupor. He really needed to get back to work, but he knew Draco had come to the Foundation for a reason other than sex that morning, so he really had to find a way of waking him up. Preferably without being hexed.

 

“Dray?”

 

Harry rubbed a hand along Draco's chest, casting a silent cleansing charm over the both of them. When he had woken a few minutes before, it had been to a sticky mess and he had already cast one cleansing charm, but he hadn’t _felt_ clean.

 

“I’m – I’m awake.” Draco's voice was rough. “I – ah…”

 

Draco turned, giving Harry a glassy look that had Harry grinning in response. Knowing he had the power to render Draco this mindless was such a heady sensation, but he knew he had to focus. Leaning in, he placed a soft kiss on Draco's lips.

 

“What was it you wanted to talk about?”

 

“Talk?”

 

“Yeah, talk.”

 

Harry pushed against Draco's chest, rolling them so he could lie on top of him again. Having Draco so glazy-eyed and pliable was such a temptation that Harry couldn’t resist kissing him again, sliding his tongue easily into his mouth. Draco's hands slid slowly down Harry’s back to come to a rest just at his tailbone. He broke the kiss with a soft sigh.

 

“My parents arrive tomorrow.”

 

Harry couldn’t help chuckling. “Well, it’s a damn good thing they’re going to the Manor rather than Grimmauld.” His laughter increased when Draco slapped him lightly on the hip. “Well, do _you_ want to explain why we had to air the chocolate smell out of the kitchen?”

 

The smile Draco offered up was warm. “I need you to promise me something.”

 

“Anything.”

 

Draco's smile widened. “Promise me you won’t freak out and run tomorrow when you see my Mother’s true face.”

 

Harry found he had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from asking just how many faces Narcissa had. “After everything we’ve been through, you think Narcissa can scare me off?”

 

The grip Draco had on him tightened a little, causing Harry to smile. He unthinkingly brushed the knuckles of his right hand along Draco's cheekbone.

 

“No, but I do think you’ll be at least a little scared by what she’ll suggest tomorrow.”

 

Harry began to chuckle again before he realised that Draco was serious. “Oh, come on, how bad could it be? It’s not like she’s going to try to whip me or something!” He frowned when Draco merely raised an eyebrow. “Draco?”

 

“She and my Father followed a lot of the traditional pure-blood customs at their wedding and she attempted to convince Astoria to use many of them for our wedding. Including a blood-sharing ceremony.”

 

Harry stared down at him, trying to work out if he was joking. When all Draco did was watch him back, Harry sat up.

 

“A _blood-sharing_ ceremony? You know it’s a little difficult to tell when you’re joking at times, right?”

 

“I know.” Draco sighed as he sat up as well, his hands stealing around Harry’s waist again. “Promise me you won’t run.”

 

It finally dawned on Harry that Draco may actually be worried about this as something strange flickered through his grey eyes. Leaning in, he sealed their lips together again, enjoying the warmth he could feel radiating from Draco.

 

“I love you.” Harry smiled when Draco hummed. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The word was whispered against Harry’s lips, sending a shiver through him. He adjusted his position so he could glance over to the clock on the oven, seeing that he was about to be late back to work. He found he couldn’t care, however.

 

“But I can’t guarantee that I won’t hex her if she tries to stab me.”

 

Draco chuckled, the sound vibrating against Harry’s lips. “Fair enough.”


	13. Chapter 13

Harry’s shoes squeaked on the marble floor of the lobby of the Manor as he Apparated in, nearly sending him to his arse. He threw his hands out to his sides in an attempt to balance himself out and not fall over. It was probably lucky that he hadn’t managed to accidentally splinch himself, he figured, considering the haste with which he had left the Foundation. He’d known he was running late and for that to happen on the day that he had organised for Lucius and Narcissa to arrive at the Manor to discuss the wedding plans was just bloody typical, really.

 

“Good to see you haven’t lost any of your Auror reflexes.”

 

The drawling, sarcastic voice had Harry rolling his eyes automatically as he managed to regain his balance. A quick glance around showed Draco watching him from just outside the closed door to the informal living room, his arms crossed across his chest and smirk firmly in place. There was a superior look in Draco's eyes, but he didn’t look angry, which Harry took for a good sign.

 

“Bite me, Malfoy.”

 

“With pleasure.” Draco's smirk widened into a proper smile for a few seconds, causing Harry to grin back. “You may have to wait a few hours, however, considering the company we currently have.”

 

Harry’s eyes slid shut involuntarily. He really hadn’t needed the reminder that he was late to the meeting he had set up himself. Images of Lucius pacing the lobby in frustration had been invading his mind all morning, along with the lecture he was certain that he was about to be subjected to. Words like _immature_ and _irresponsible_ were only some of what he imagined would be flung at him, most likely snarled by Lucius. Harry had no idea why, but there were certain people who could still make him feel like an awkward teenager at times and Lucius Malfoy appeared to be one of them.

 

“Harry?”

 

“How late am I?” He could hear the reluctance in his own voice.

 

“No more than fifteen minutes.” Harry let out a breath, his eyes fluttering open as relief rushed through him. It seemed, however, that Draco wasn’t going to allow him to relax any time soon. “But don’t worry, Lily’s been keeping us all amused.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened as horror slid down his spine, causing his insides to tremble. “Lily?” He knew for a fact that this could be just as bad as his own faux pas in being late. “What has she done?”

 

One of Draco's eyebrows rose towards his hairline as he pushed off from the doorjamb. “She loves some of Mother’s suggestions for the wedding, especially the flower girl’s dress.” He uncrossed his arms and folded them behind his back as he made his way slowly across the lobby towards Harry. “The colours leave a little to be desired, but I do have to admit that the tiara suits her quite well.”

 

Harry rolled his shoulders automatically as the hair on the back of his neck rose. “You’re joking.”

 

A small smile tilted Draco's lips as he cocked his head to the side. “Try again.”

 

Harry’s stomach dropped into his shoes. “No, that’s not… Don’t mess with me, Draco. We weren’t going to have–”

 

“Dad? Is that you?”

 

There was an audible click as Harry’s mouth snapped shut. His eyes flicked over Draco’s shoulder to watch the door to the living room being thrown open to emit Lily. He instinctively knelt down when she came racing across the lobby towards him, but she stopped just short of him, a wide smile on her face.

 

“You have _no idea_ what you’re allowed to do at a wedding! You and Draco are doing it the _boring_ way!” She stepped forward and leant in, almost as though she was telling him a grave secret. “Cissa says that there’s all kinds of traditions we should have. There’s these special robes that shimmer and crowns and special music that you can see _and_ …” She paused to take a deep breath, seeming to want to build up the tension before her last announcement. “ _And_ Lucius says that we’re allowed to use his peacocks in the ceremony! They can fly the rings down the aisle! How pretty would they be with their wings spread? Can we?”

 

Harry blinked, his mind going blank as shock settled over him. “‘ _Cissa_ ’?”

 

A muffled snort of laughter dragged his attention over to Draco, who had settled his hips against the end of the bannister of the stairs. Despite the fact that his head was ducked, Harry could still see the smile he was fighting to hide from his position kneeling on the floor. Draco's shoulders shook with silent laughter, causing Harry’s eyes to narrow.

 

“Yeah, Cissa says that it’s tradition for the children to be involved in the wedding ceremony! Come on, I’ll show you.”

 

Harry watched as Lily shot away towards the living room again, her hair flying behind her. He shook his head as he stood to face Draco.

 

“You knew.”

 

It took a few seconds for Draco to look up and when he did, his eyes were still sparkling with humour. “Knew what?”

 

“That she’d focus on Lily. That Narcissa would try to get Lily on her side so we wouldn’t have a choice but to say yes to anything she suggested.”

 

“Harry.” Draco sighed as he reached for Harry to pull him close enough so he could slip his hands into the back pockets of his trousers. “I distinctly remember being worried that she’d terrify you. Not having been raised in a pure-blood family, I thought you would be horrified by the things she would suggest; that you’d think I was just as bad as them and not want anything to do with me any longer.”

 

“Draco–”

 

“Why shouldn’t the children be involved?”

 

That brought Harry up short, clearing his mind of any objections he had been about to voice over Draco's fears that he would leave him. Considering this was a second wedding for the both of them, they had thought, originally, that it should be a small and quiet affair. They both hoped, of course, that the press wouldn’t find out any of the details, and a smaller wedding would help with that. Lily’s obvious enthusiasm over the prospect of being allowed to join in with the festivities, however, added something else to the equation. Blinking, Harry refocussed on Draco, who was watching him with a questioning look.

 

“You think they should be?” Harry smiled when Draco's grip on him tightened. “Can we change it at this stage?”

 

“I think…” Draco paused to take a slow breath. “I think being involved in the ceremony in some way will help all four of them to feel as though this is real. We’re trying to blend two very different families here and I think any little thing that would help them to feel as though we are one big family now would be useful.”

 

Harry grinned as warmth flooded through him. Without even pausing to think about it, he dragged Draco into a deep kiss, sliding his tongue in and over Draco's teeth. _Family_. It seemed like that one little word had been the driving force in Harry’s life since he had first discovered that there was so much more to his own family than what his Aunt and Uncle had told him. He had actively sort out and made his own family over the years and now it was expanding beyond what Harry had ever thought to imagine. Draco was to be his _husband_ in a month’s time. The idea was kind of mind-boggling when Harry allowed himself to think about it properly. A shiver rippled through him when he pressed closer and broke the kiss.

 

“What was that for?” Draco's voice was only just above a whisper, causing Harry to smile.

 

“Because you deserve it.”

 

“Dad, Draco, _come on!_ ”

 

The exasperation in Lily’s voice had Harry chuckling. He reluctantly stepped back from Draco and was graced with a warm look that he was certain Draco had never bestowed on anyone other than him. Smiling back at him, Harry grabbed his wrist and spun him around to face the living room.

 

“Come on,” he murmured, his lips pressed close to Draco's ear from behind. “If I’m going to be horrified, you can be horrified with me.”

 

*~*

 

“…now, if you want to combine the robin’s egg blue with the silver, then I would suggest using the silver sparingly. There is only so much of a standout colour like that that your audience can endure before they have to look away and we wouldn’t want people looking away from you on your wedding day, would we?”

 

Draco held his breath in an attempt to hold back his laughter at the look on Harry’s face. He was fairly certain that Harry would like nothing more than to be able to sink into obscurity for the rest of his life, especially after Narcissa was done with him.

 

“No, no, I, er… I guess not.”

 

“No, of course not. This is yours and Draco's day and we want everyone’s eyes on the both of you. Now, with the robin’s egg blue, we could go rustic, with burnished gold accents and a variety of creams…” Narcissa paused to hold up three swatches of material, one a very light blue, one a creamy-white and the other a dark gold. Harry nodded, appearing to Draco as though he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but Narcissa smiled anyway and barrelled on. “The other option – which I personally do not like as much – is to go with a more earthy approach with browns and greens integrated along with the blue.” Pausing again, she replaced the gold and cream material with a selection of greens and browns, with the blue the main, overarching colour. Harry’s eyes flicked briefly over towards Draco, causing Draco to have to stifle a chuckle at the lost look he saw there. “It is my personal belief that going with this option would cheapen the day for everyone involved, however. The gold accents give everything a much more sophisticated touch, I believe.”

 

“ _And_ it’ll look so good with the peacocks.”

 

Unable to help it, Draco grinned at Lily’s interjection. He had been so stressed over this meeting that it had never occurred to him to think that things would go so differently this time around. He had no idea whether it was Lily’s presence, or the fact that his parents had both mellowed a little with age, or whether they actually just genuinely wished them both well – Draco nearly snorted with laughter again at that thought – but Narcissa hadn’t suggested anything close to what Draco had been fearing she would. Not that Harry looked like he was grateful at the direction the day had taken, but Draco knew this was probably the best outcome, considering the way everything could have gone.

 

“Draco.”

 

Draco's head snapped up at the sound of his Father’s quiet voice just off to his left. Lucius was standing over by the fireplace, a glass of what appeared to be brandy in his hand. He hadn’t lost any of the imposing presence he had cultivated over the years and, staring down at Draco as he was, Draco knew that if he wasn’t so used to it, he would feel incredibly intimidated.

 

“Father.” He stood and made his way over to the fireplace, taking his cue from Lucius and keeping his voice low. “Is something wrong?”

 

Instead of answering straight away, Lucius merely watched him for a few seconds, his grey eyes appraising. Draco held his gaze before cocking an eyebrow in question. Lucius nodded and moved over to the sideboard, poured two fingers of brandy into a second snifter and handed it to Draco. Without really thinking, Draco raised the glass in a silent salute before taking his first sip. He followed silently when Lucius made his way slowly over to the windows that showed the expansive front gardens of the Manor.

 

“Your Mother came here with only the best intentions today. She means to do well by you with this wedding.”

 

Draco nodded. “I’m aware of that.”

 

“Are you?”

 

Draco's head snapped towards his Father so fast he could feel his muscles objecting. Lucius was still staring out the window, but Draco could see the tension in the death grip he had on his glass.

 

“Father?”

 

Lucius let out a quiet sigh before turning to look Draco in the eyes. “It was never our intention to make your life difficult when we insisted that you marry and propagate the family line. Marrying the correct person and producing a proper heir has always been the main duty of the heirs to pure-blood family fortunes, you know that. It was drummed into my head growing up, just as I enforced the idea on you when you were a child. It is the unspoken rule that all of us must apparently follow, no matter our orientation. Since the end of the War, however, all your Mother and I have wanted is for you to find the kind of happiness that you deserve.”

 

“I _am_ happy, Father.”

 

“That has become abundantly clear over the past few months.” Lucius reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out what appeared to be a small piece of paper, causing Draco to frown in confusion. “We are fully aware that neither of you have the need for any kind of financial assistance, but it is my hope that you will accept this. Put it towards the honeymoon, or away for the children; it makes no real difference. You may consider this an apology for forcing you back into the closet in the name of keeping up appearances.”

 

Draco automatically grasped the hand Lucius held out for him to shake, his confusion increasing by the second. The piece of paper was forced into Draco's hand just before Lucius turned to move back towards the rest of the group in the living room. Draco quickly glanced down and had to hold back a gasp. _20,000 Galleons!_ He reached out and grabbed the edge of the sleeve of his Father’s robe, pulling Lucius to a halt a few steps from him.

 

“Thank you, Father.” Draco put as much sincerity into the words as he could manage. “I really do appreciate everything you and Mother have done for me over the years.”

 

A small nod was Lucius’ only response, but it felt to Draco like he had just been granted the greatest gift anyone had ever received. Seeking his parent’s approval had been one of the main motivations behind so many of Draco's actions for as long as he could remember that the moment seemed a little surreal. He had known for a while now that he and Harry had received his parent’s blessing for their relationship, but this was so much more. True approval was something that was rare from Lucius and Draco allowed himself to wallow in the sensation before returning to the group with a smile that he didn’t have a chance of preventing.

 

*~*

 

“I am absolutely–” Harry let out a loud groan as he landed face-first on top of the bed. “–exhausted.” A deep chuckle from the doorway that led into the outer rooms of their suite had him smiling down into the mattress. “You seem happy.”

 

The words were muffled, as Harry couldn’t even be bothered to move his head from where he had landed, but it seemed Draco had understood him well enough. He listened to the soft thuds of Draco's steps nearing the bed, trying to judge how long he had before he would have to roll over.

 

“There’s no reason for me not to be happy.” The bed dipped, but before Harry could even consider turning over, Draco placed a hand in the centre of his back, holding him in place. “Stay there.”

 

Completely unwilling to object, Harry relaxed down into the soft mattress with a sigh. Draco's hands moved down his legs and Harry smiled when he felt him begin to tug his shoes off. There had been something different about Draco that afternoon, but Harry had been too distracted by Narcissa and the parade of multi-coloured material to pay too much attention to it. Now, however, he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Turning his head so he could see Draco's side of the bed, he opened his mouth to start questioning him, but Draco beat him to it.

 

“Did you and Mother come to any decisions today? Or should I say Mother and Lily?”

 

Harry couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “You should definitely say ‘Mother and Lily’.” Warmth flooded through him when Draco joined in with his laughter. “Those fucking peacocks, I swear to God…”

 

“Father prizes those stupid things, you know. I believe he even considered showing them at one stage when I was young.” The bed vibrated when Draco collapsed down onto his back beside Harry with a sigh. “So did they come to a decision? Mother seemed quite determined about some of those designs.”

 

“She is.” Harry let out a small sigh. “Lily isn’t helping either. Everything even slightly outrageous, she likes. If it was up to her, _you_ would have peacock feathers weaved through your hair and _I_ would be wearing the matching robes.”

 

Draco chuckled and stretched his arms above his head, arching his back like a cat. “Did Mother bring those robes?”

 

Narrowing his eyes, Harry reached out to dig his fingers into Draco's ribs, earning himself a very satisfying grunt. “The live peacocks are going to be bad enough, thank you.”

 

“You couldn’t talk her out of it?”

 

“Feel free to try yourself if you want, but I doubt that she’ll give up now that the idea’s in her mind.”

 

“No, I’m fine.” Rolling to his side so he was facing Harry, Draco smiled. “Father offered me something today that I think you’ll be interested in.”

 

“Mmm?”

 

Running his eyes over Draco, Harry couldn’t help thinking that Narcissa was right: Draco would look absolutely stunning in the blue and cream robes she had chosen for him for the wedding. He was of the rather strong opinion that he would look incredibly frumpy in comparison in the matching cream and gold robes she had chosen for him, but he hadn’t really been able to object. It wasn’t like he knew the first thing about fashion or what would look good, so he had simply given up in the end and wound up agreeing with almost everything that Narcissa had shown him. He found that going with whatever she liked had been the best option for most of the afternoon and he could only hope that he wouldn’t end up looking foolish.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah, sorry. What?”

 

“You really are as tired as you look, aren’t you?” There was laughter in Draco's voice as he reached to run a hand down Harry’s back. “I’ll keep it short then. Father handed me a check for twenty thousand Galleons this afternoon and told me to use it on something that makes me happy.”

 

Shock rushed through Harry’s veins, causing him to blink rapidly. Shoving himself up onto his elbows, he stared down at Draco, trying to tell whether he was joking or not.

 

“Twenty _thousand_ Galleons?”

 

“I was thinking maybe all of us could go on holiday before the kids have to go back to school. Or maybe we could invest it as a little extra income for them before they get jobs themselves. I mean, it’s not either of _us_ need it, so–”

 

Draco's words were cut off as Harry lunged forward and smashed their mouths together. He made a small sound of objection, causing Harry to soften the kiss. Pressing forward, Harry rolled Draco so he was lying on his back again, their lips still sealed together. He enjoyed the sensation of having Draco beneath him for once for a while before he broke the kiss.

 

“Harry?”

 

“I’d kiss Lucius instead, but I think it would be a race to see which one of the three of you would murder me first.”

 

“Mother would definitely win that one,” Draco chuckled before rolling them over again. “Just how tired are you?”

 

Harry grinned. “Not tired enough to stop you from doing whatever’s on your mind.”

 

“Good. I believe I have a promise to follow up on.”

 

He didn’t give Harry any chance to question him before he ducked and clamped his teeth onto one of Harry’s collarbones. Harry let out a sound that was half-surprised gasp and half-groan as the memory of his arrival home that morning returned to him. _Bite me, Malfoy_. He grinned and relaxed back into the pillow again, surrendering himself to the sensations more than willingly.


	14. Chapter 14

“…but how did you get the albino peacocks? Do they breed that way?”

 

Draco's head snapped up at the sound of Lily’s voice approaching his greenhouse. He knew it was quite early still, but that had never yet stopped Lily from being up and about. Casting a stasis charm over his work, he slowly made his way over to the door.

 

“They are not, in fact, albino. They have been specifically bred to increase the chance of them being born with a genetic mutation that causes the feathers to have no pigmentation. If you look closely, you will see that their eyes are still the original black and not the red of an albino.”

 

There was very little condescension in Lucius’ tone, but Draco's nerves jumped anyway. He knew that his Father loved to brag about his birds, but whether he still had the patience to deal with a child as precocious as Lily was another matter altogether. Draco waited until the sound of their footsteps – Lucius’ aided by the cane he always carried – had travelled past his greenhouse before opening the door and slipping out to watch them.

 

“Oh, so if you want a pure white peacock, then it can only breed with other ones that have the same mutation?”

 

“Pea _fowl_ is the actual name of the bird, Lily. Peacocks are male and peahens are female. And yes, I had an intricate breeding program in place when I was still the bird’s main carer. I am unaware whether Draco has continued the separation of the birds I instigated to keep the lines pure, however, so it may be that some of the younger birds are not quite as purebred as the older generations.”

 

Unable to help it, Draco rolled his eyes. Of course he hadn’t continued the bloody breeding program Lucius had set up: he had no intention of ever showing the birds, so why should he? Stepping out and around the corner of the greenhouse, he watched as the two of them walked slowly down the path towards the peacock – peafowl? – enclosure. Lily had to take nearly two whole steps for every one of Lucius’, but Lucius had slowed his pace in order to allow her to keep up with him. It was such an odd sight that Draco couldn’t help but follow them, curiosity as to what would happen when they reached their destination flowing through him.

 

“Oh.” The disappointment in Lily’s voice actually sent a shot of guilt over the stupid birds through Draco, causing him to scowl. He absolutely refused to feel sorry for a group of birds that lived better lives than many humans! “But Draco _has_ looked after them really well, don’t you think? Their enclosure doesn’t need any repairs or anything and they can get out and roam around the grounds if they want.”

 

Lucius paused as they came up to the front entrance of the enclosure. Draco could see him squinting, obviously scrutinising every little detail of his precious birds’ home. It was almost impossible for Draco to not hold his breath in anticipation as he waited to hear Lucius’ opinion of the structure.

 

“It is adequate,” he pronounced with an air of superiority that Draco could make out even from where he stood further back down the path. “Shall we investigate the interior?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Draco grinned as he watched Lily bouncing on the balls of her toes behind Lucius as he unlocked the enclosure. She rushed inside the second the door was open, but Lucius held back, his head cocked to one side.

 

“Draco, it is undignified to skulk behind your Father like some criminal. If you wish to enter the enclosure with us, please hurry along.”

 

Shaking his head, Draco sighed. He knew he should have known that Lucius would have realised that he had been being followed. The awareness of your surroundings they all seemed to have developed wasn’t something that you just let go of; not after everything they had been through during the War. He lengthened his strides to bring himself up level with Lucius faster.

 

“My apologies, Father. I heard the two of you talking and my curiosity got the better of me.”

 

Lucius eyed him for a few seconds, looking as though he was trying to decide whether he was being lied to or not. When Draco merely held his gaze with a bland expression, he nodded.

 

“What have you told the child about the birds?”

 

“Not a lot, quite frankly. Lily is the type of child to study what she is interested in herself. If she had questions, I answered them, but she much prefers to discover things herself, on the whole.”

 

Instead of responding verbally, Lucius merely nodded and swept into the enclosure, leaving the door wide open. It was obviously an invitation to enter with him, so Draco stepped inside, latching the door firmly behind him.

 

“Draco!” Lily jumped down from the railing she had been climbing and ran up to him the second she realised that she and Lucius were no longer alone. “Lucius says he’s going to teach me about the peacocks! Sorry, pea _fowl_. I thought I should know a bit more about them if they’re going to be in the wedding ceremony.”

 

Draco couldn’t help the smile he gave at that. Why Lily thought she should know more about how to care for the birds if they were to be a part of the wedding ceremony was beyond him, but he had given up trying to work out how her mind worked a while back. His smile widened as Lily grasped his hand and turned from him, dragging him further into the enclosure.

 

The ‘facts’ that Lucius spouted about the peacocks – or pea _fowl_ , as Lily insisted on calling them now – were things that Draco knew could be discovered by anyone with a basic book on animals, but they kept Lily enraptured for most of the morning. She pelted the both of them with questions about general peafowl care as well as ones about specific birds, asked what the difference was between the three different types of peafowl, and practiced grooming the tail of one of the tamer birds; under Lucius’ strict eye, of course. Draco took the time to interrupt Lucius in one of his lectures to inform Lily that the feathers that the male birds discarded at the end of each breeding season could be turned into fancy quills; the sparkle her eyes took on in what he assumed was anticipation of owning one of the those quills was more than worth the risk of displeasing his Father he had taken.

 

For the most part, though, Draco allowed Lucius to stand in the spotlight, unless Lily asked him a question directly. He had once shared Lucius’ desire to be the centre of attention and figured it wasn’t his place to deny his Father an audience, even if it was only him and Lily. By the time Lucius had apparently decided that Lily had the basics of peafowl care down and all three of them exited the enclosure, the sun was high in the sky and Draco's stomach was grumbling.

 

“There you are!”

 

“Dad! You won’t _believe_ what Lucius taught me about the peafowl!”

 

Glancing up the path that led to the house, Draco grinned when he spotted Harry kneeling down just in time to catch Lily as she threw herself at him. Standing up with Lily in his arms, Harry shot Draco a knowing look before turning back towards the house. Lily’s voice echoed back to him across the grounds as Harry took her back to the Manor, presumably to grab some lunch, judging from Draco’s own body’s insistence that he eat.

 

“She should do well for herself if she continues studying.” There was a definite approving tone to Lucius’ voice. “It is good to see a child who is so interested in learning.”

 

“She’s a highly intelligent girl, Father. Potions fascinate her as well and she has spent quite a lot of time studying them on her own. I’m expecting her to do quite well in school when she enters this September.” Draco watched as Lucius nodded silently. “Father?”

 

“It should be entertaining to see how all four children interact when they are all under the same roof for an extended amount of time. Are you certain Scorpius is ready to share you and Astoria with three other children?”

 

Without waiting for Draco to answer, Lucius walked off down the path, his long legs carrying him much faster than Draco could have walked while still maintaining a shred of dignity. The question was something Draco had asked himself a number of times over the months since Christmas. How _would_ Scorpius react to gaining an entirely new family? He knew that that family didn’t just include Harry and his kids, either. The Weasley clan was sure to try to incorporate Scorpius in with them at some point and Draco was truly unsure how that would go. But, he decided as he started off towards the house after his Father, it was something he would just have to deal with when it came time. He had a full week before they had to pick the boys up from Platform 9 ¾ and they would see what would happen when the time came.

 

*~*

 

Harry’s breath huffed out of him in a steamy cloud as he thoroughly spread the conditioner through his hair. The weekend had been incredibly interesting, to say the least. From his surprise over Narcissa making such an effort to find things that would actually help them both with the wedding, to his nerves over his interactions with Lucius, he had certainly run the gamut of emotions over the two days the two of them had stayed. It seemed to him, though, that things had gone almost as smoothly as they possibly could have, which was something that he hadn’t expected. His eyes flicked over to the door as it slid open.

 

“Draco?”

 

“You were expecting someone else?”

 

“Shut-up. It’s hard enough to see through the steam even with my glasses.”

 

A quiet chuckle was Draco's only response, causing Harry to smile. He moved on and began scrubbing himself clean when he heard the sound of Draco rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Harry had discovered that it had been quite easy to fit his morning routine in around Draco's, even with the change in his working hours since the start of the year. Most mornings it was easy enough for him to run on auto-pilot; showering, dressing, eating and getting Lily off to school were all he had to worry about at that point in time.

 

Of course, that would all change that coming weekend, when the boys came home, but Harry was determined that the changes in his life wouldn’t negatively affect any of his children. Molly had, of course, offered to have the children over at any time when he needed a babysitter due to his work commitments, but he was seriously considering shortening his hours at work during the school holidays anyway. With James still seeing his therapist once a week, he knew it would be easier on everyone involved if he wasn’t stuck at work most of the time.

 

“Trying to drown yourself in there, are you?”

 

Harry gasped in surprise at the quiet question, accidentally snorting some of the conditioner that was running down his face. A coughing fit overtook him for a few seconds, causing his eyes to water and leaving him gasping for breath.

 

“I was fine until you opened your big mouth,” he managed as soon as he cleared his throat a little. “You could join me if you’re that worried about water wastage, of course.”

 

The sound of Draco taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly reached Harry’s ears and he smiled. He knew that Draco enjoyed the sensation of sex in the shower above nearly anything else they had done together, although what it was about it that he found so appealing, Harry had never thought to ask. He waited for Draco to slide the shower door open and step in, but the moment never came. Draco let out a soft sigh before closing the medicine cabinet.

 

“Don’t tempt me. I’ve actually got things I have to do today and I would really rather not get a late start.”

 

Harry couldn’t help smiling at the tone of regret he could make out in Draco's voice. After a few more thuds and bangs that Harry took for Draco placing whatever he had been using away, the door to the bathroom opened and closed quietly again. A small thread of curiosity trailed through Harry, causing him to flick the taps off and cast a quick drying charm over himself instead of taking the time to dry himself with a towel. He found Draco sitting on the edge of the bed, trying his shoelaces.

 

“What kinds of things?”

 

Harry took great pleasure in the way Draco's eyes lingered over him as he moved naked through the room. He tended to leave his clothing in the bedroom for that exact reason.

 

“Not much, really. It’s just easier to leave early and get everything over and done with in the morning.”

 

Harry finished dressing as fast as he could so he could make it over to the bed in time to wrap his arms around Draco's waist from behind. Kneeling on the bed, he leant over and placed his lips close to the shell of Draco's ear.

 

“I know there comes a time in every relationship where you have to sort out your priorities, but I never expected to drop to second fiddle to household chores so early on.” He grinned when Draco laughed and leant back into his arms. “Has it truly come to this? We’re…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “ _Domestic_.”

 

Draco's laugh vibrated through Harry’s body, sending warmth through him. Settling down behind Draco properly, Harry adjusted his grip on him when Draco's hands slid along his arms so he could lace their fingers together.

 

“I distinctly remember trying to give you a chance to go out and find a number of strapping young men to sow your wild oats with, but you turned me down.”

 

“I found who I want, thank you very much and I didn’t need to sleep around to find him. He got right up in my face, insulted me and tried to bash my head in on the public bathroom tiles.”

 

The happiness Harry could make out in the wide smile that stretched across Draco's face had a responding bubble of joy rising in his own chest. Turning his head, he nipped softly just above Draco's collar.

 

“If I recall correctly, he then insulted you again and paid you for your services.” Draco's grip on Harry’s arms tightened a little as he adjusted his position on the bed. “And believe me, you gave just as good as you got that day. I always ached for days after encountering you. Astoria found it highly amusing.”

 

“She would.” Harry let out a soft sigh when Draco finished squirming and settled back down against him. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

 

“About Astoria? Don’t be; there’s no explaining that woman sometimes.”

 

“Smartarse. No, there really was no excuse I could have made for trying to hurt you like that, even if I did excuse it to myself at the time as self-defence. Any court would throw that out in an instant, considering my years of training. So, I’m sorry for it; all of it.”

 

The room was silent for a while, the only sound their combined breathing. Harry was just beginning to think that he had somehow said something wrong when Draco dragged his fingernails along the back of one of Harry’s hands.

 

“There’s really no need to apologise; I was the one to instigate most of the slightly more violent encounters we had. For what it’s worth, however, you have my apologies as well. I had no right to take my frustration out on you in that way.”

 

The silence that surrounded them this time was quite comfortable and Harry relaxed into it with a small sigh. There had been points when he had feared that their lives would never settle down again but, with the small exception of the Weasley’s issues with Draco, it really did seem to him that everything was quietening down. It was a strange sensation, considering the stress and publicity their relationship had caused.

 

“Anyway…” Draco straightened, but didn’t allow Harry to pull back from him just yet. He spun the ring on Harry’s finger and shot him a grin. “You’re stuck with me now, domesticity and all.”

 

It was plain that Draco was trying to lighten the mood and Harry let him. Unlinking their fingers, he allowed Draco up off the bed so he could continue on his way. Glancing down, Harry spun the ring on his finger himself, a wide smile stretching across his face. He was quite happy to be stuck with Draco, it seemed.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to set the scene, this is set the second half of the Monday that the last chapter ended with. It's the last week of June :)

Draco hated lying to Harry. There was, unfortunately, no two ways about it: Harry was the one person in the world capable of making him feel guilty about lying to him. Not that Harry had to even really _try_ to make him feel guilty over his actions, as he had no idea he had been lied to that morning when Draco had turned him down in the shower.

 

Scowling as he deftly sidestepped a woman and her crying child blocking his way through Diagon, Draco tried to force the unpleasantly warm pooling of guilt in his stomach away. It wasn’t like this was a permanent lie, he told his conscious: Harry was going to find out about it that afternoon. And surely when he discovered the reason why Draco had lied to him, he wouldn’t be angry. Harry was a relatively reasonable person, so _surely_ … Huffing out a frustrated sigh, Draco took a detour into the small alcove just before the entrance to the lawyer’s offices.

 

_Calm down_ , he forcefully told himself the second he was out of the sight of any curious eyes. _You’re not doing anything illegal, just visiting your lawyers._

 

Taking a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes and applied his Occlumency shields tighter. Pushing the thoughts of Harry being pissed off at him for lying to him to the back of his mind proved a little more difficult, but he was a patient man. Once he managed to get his racing heart and squirming stomach a little more under control, he stepped out into Diagon again and rounded the corner to enter the offices of Richardson, Hunter and Macgregor.

 

“Mr. Malfoy! It’s always a pleasure to see you.”

 

Draco resisted the urge to inform the secretary that she was full of shit and smiled instead. “Thank you. Does Mr. Richardson have a few free minutes to spare? I wish to speak to him about something rather... delicate.”

 

There was no jolt of guilt over lying to the secretary, Draco noticed with a smile that he had to immediately repress. _Of course_ it would just be Harry, he told himself before refocussing on the secretary.

 

There was nothing truly delicate about what he was there to discuss with Richardson, but he figured that telling the secretary it was would get him seen much faster than if he had just brushed his reason off. There was absolutely no point in staying there for longer than he wanted to.

 

“Of course, Mr. Malfoy. If you would just follow me.”

 

Automatically slipping into his public persona, Draco kept his eyes fixed ahead of him as he followed in the secretary’s wake through the maze of offices. He knew exactly where she was taking him, of course, so he had no real need to watch where he was going; he had been there often enough, after all. The vestibule she led him to hadn’t changed since the last time he had waited for Richardson there the day Harry had signed his divorce papers. The memory brought with it very uncomfortable feelings associated with both his joy over Harry finally being free from Ginevra as well as a combination of remorse and anger he related to remembering the look on James’ face when he had heard his Mother speaking of him and his siblings the way she had. Unfortunately for Draco, the latter won out over the former, sending revulsion through him as the secretary gestured to one of the comfy-looking chairs.

 

“Please, have a seat. I’ll let Mr. Richardson know you are here.”

 

Sending a disdainful glance towards the chairs, Draco shook his head. “I’m comfortable standing, thank you.”

 

He knew the secretary would take the look as a sign that he was displeased with something, but he was completely unwilling to disabuse her of the notion. Standing just off to the side so he wouldn’t be visible from inside the office when the door opened, Draco crossed his arms over his chest and offered her a polite smile, one that had her offering him a sightly panicked-looking smile in response. Draco had to repress a smile once again; playing with people’s expectations of him was one of his favourite ways to pass the time when in public. All up, the secretary took less than a minute to enter the office, speak to Richardson and return to inform Draco he could go in immediately. He offered her yet another smile and was almost unable to hold his amusement in when she jumped a little before nodding and returning to her desk.

 

“Young Mr. Malfoy. It’s been a while, how are you?”

 

“Quite well, thank you.” Draco stepped into the room and shook Richardson’s offered hand. “However, I do believe that your secretary is a little…” He cocked his head to the side, considering his words carefully. “ _Nervous_ around me these days, shall we say.”

 

The knowing look Richardson shot him told Draco that he was not going to get away with pretending to not know the reason behind the girl’s nerves. Garrett Richardson was well aware of the Malfoy tendency to play into people’s expectations after dealing with not only him, but his Father before him as well.

 

“I’m sure she shall get used to your presence, just as Monica did.”

 

Draco blinked. He hadn’t even registered that the woman he had been speaking to was a different one to the last he had dealt with. It was a testimony to Richardson’s ability to find himself discrete secretaries, Draco figured, if even he was unable to tell the difference between them. He inclined his head when it became obvious that Richardson was waiting for a response from him.

 

“I’m sure she shall.” He took the chair before the fire that Richardson directed him to and accepted a glass of water with murmured thanks. “How are your family?”

 

Draco only half-listened to Richardson prattle on about his grandchildren for a while, completely uninterested in what the man was saying, but still needing to pay close enough attention to be able to ask about them again later on down the track. This was one of the more boring parts of discreet conversation, one that Draco would gladly forego if he thought he could get away with it. Luck was definitely not on his side that day, it seemed, as when he had finished speaking of his own family, Richardson asked about Draco's. They continued on and on, skirting around sensitive issues and discussing others in depth until a house-elf popped in and requested that they place their lunch orders.

 

“Lunch?” Draco waved his wand and stared mutely at the numbers telling him that it was already half twelve.

 

“Yes, time flies when you’re engrossed in conversation, doesn’t it? Would you join me for lunch?”

 

Draco had honestly intended to be back at the Manor and working right at that moment in time. However, seeing as he had apparently wasted half the day already, he figured there was no harm in staying a little longer. He settled into the chair properly, accepted a glass of wine and placed his lunch order with the house-elf.

 

*~*

 

“Iris, where are the leave forms kept?”

 

Harry slammed the drawer of the filing cabinet closed with a frustrated huff and sank down into his chair. His annoyance stemmed not only from his halted search for the forms, but from a combination of annoyances he had had to deal with during the day. Missing payslips, tantrums by the children, an accident in the medical section that had needed half the wards to be closed for nearly all the day, and a bit of a mess involving the parents of one of the children the Aurors had handed over to the orphanage about three months previously had all added up to increase his irritation. It had all helped him to come to the decision that he needed to take some time off during the school holidays to spend some real time with the boys.

 

“Why do you need the leave forms?” Iris’ voice sounded muffled through the wood of the door.

 

“To fill one out, obviously.”

 

“But…” Iris sighed. “Hang on a minute, I’ll be in soon.”

 

There was a touch of confusion to her voice that sent a responding rush of confusion through Harry. What could possibly be so unclear about him wanting to take a little time off? Or maybe it was because he had already taken those two days off for Draco's birthday at the start of the month? The Auror Corps had never really had an issue with him taking leave for the children, as long as it wasn’t too often or for too long, so why it would be an issue now was slightly perplexing. He was frowning down at his hands in his lap when Iris opened the door with a soft knock.

 

“Harry?” He jumped a little, causing her to smile. “Why do you need the leave forms?”

 

Harry watched as she made her way into the room to stand before his desk, a small frown creasing her brow. He took a deep breath to try to push some of the lingering irritation at himself for not knowing where something was in his own office and smiled.

 

“I’m going to take a little more time off during the school holidays. The Foundation runs itself pretty smoothly with the Heads of Department in control, so I figured it wouldn’t make much of a difference whether I was here full-time or not.” The smile that spread slowly over Iris’ face told Harry that he had said something that amused her, but what it was, he had no chance of working out. “What?”

 

Stepping forward so she could claim one of the chairs in front of his desk, Iris smoothed her hair back behind her ear and cleared her throat. “Harry, you _own_ the Foundation.”

 

She looked at him expectantly, obviously thinking she had said something significant. Harry searched his brain for what she could find significant about telling him he owned his own Foundation. He obviously already knew that and he wanted to do the right thing by letting everyone know that he was going to not be around as often as he usually was, so he needed to fill in the leave form, right?

 

“I’m aware of that, Iris. Why are you telling me?”

 

“The boss gets to do what he wants, Harry.” There was no hint of condescension to her voice, which Harry was thankful for, just amusement. “If you want to take some time off, just do it. I’ll send out a memo to the staff who need to know and that will be it. You didn’t fill one out at the start of the month, either.”

 

Harry sat and stared at her, trying to remember whether he had filled one out at the start of the month or not. “So,” he began slowly. “If I told you I wanted to take all of next week off to help the boys get settled at home, you’d send out a note telling everyone who needed to know and that would be that.” He could have sworn that he had seen the exact same amused look directed at him from Draco when he had done something particularly dense. Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair, scrubbing it down and over his face. “Sorry, it’s been a long day.”

 

“I know. Look, go home.” Harry’s head snapped up and he had to blink her into focus. “There’s only half an hour before you usually leave and it _has_ been a long day. Go home, have some caffeine, annoy Draco and come back refreshed tomorrow. I swear I‘ll hold the fort until then.”

 

Glancing around his office, Harry ran quickly through anything that he had left to do that day. When it became obvious that there was nothing really important left, he shot Iris a thankful look.

 

“Thanks, I… I’m sorry I’ve been in such a shit mood today.” He rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses, causing them to ride up his nose. “You really don’t deserve it.” A soft laugh gained his attention and he let his glasses drop again.

 

“Believe me, your supposedly shit moods are much better than those of my last employer, Harry.” She smiled wide at him as she stood from the chair. “Take the floo. That way no one will be able to distract you.”

 

Harry had his things gathered and was back in the living room of the Manor faster than he could remember leaving work before, even on his worst days for the Aurors. The floo alarm chimed and he listened carefully for footsteps, but when none sounded, he made his way out into the lobby.

 

“Hello? Draco?”

 

“Shh!”

 

Harry turned towards the voice to find Astoria softly closing the door to the informal living room across the lobby. “Tori?”

 

The grin she shot him had Harry grinning back. It had been odd to him at first, but there was simply something about Astoria that set him at ease. He automatically reached for her and pulled her into a tight embrace when she stepped close enough to him. She was still grinning when she pulled back. Holding him at arm’s length, she frowned.

 

“You look worn out.”

 

“Thanks, you look great as well.” Unable to help it, Harry let out a laugh when she whacked him on the arm. “Where’s Draco? Not still out is he?”

 

“Well… He’s out, but not in the way you mean.” Astoria’s grin widened when Harry frowned at her. “Come with me.”

 

She led him to the informal living room and placed a finger to her lips, motioning for him to stay quiet. Cracking the door open showed the room had been darkened by the closed curtains, causing Harry to narrow his eyes in order to see what was going on. He followed when Astoria slipped past him. His eyes adjusted to the gloom slowly, the stress of the day not helping his ability to focus. Astoria stopped in front of the lounge and smiled at him. Stepping around the end, he glanced down, his eyes widening in surprise. Draco lay along the full length of the lounge, snoring softly. Astoria grinned at him when he met her eyes, then crooked her finger and led him out of the room again.

 

“Why is he asleep on the lounge?”

 

Astoria seemed to be unable to wipe the grin from her face. Practically bouncing in front of him, she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

 

“He went to the lawyer’s office this morning and got trapped there with Richardson. They had a, well let’s call it a ‘working lunch’.”

 

Harry could practically hear the quotation marks forming around her words. “He’s drunk?”

 

“No, no, not drunk. Although, you know how wine tends to make him sleepy?”

 

Harry sighed, a wide smile spreading across his face. “He had wine with lunch, came home and fell asleep on the lounge.”

 

It was such a _common_ thing that it seemed nearly impossible that it had happened to Draco of all people. Harry had had the idea building in his mind that Malfoys were immune to all things common, but this… He couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up out of him when he met Astoria’s eyes. This was _cute._ Astoria joined him in his laughter, interspersed with little shushing sounds, obviously because they were still outside the living room where Draco slept. Astoria was the first to regain control over herself.

 

“He had this with him when he arrived home. He was being kind of secretive about it, so–”

 

“So you read it when he fell asleep?”

 

“Of course.” She shot him another amused look. “It’s more to do with you than me.”

 

Harry’s eyebrows rose into his hairline in surprise, but he took the piece of paper she held out to him anyway. Scanning the page caused even more shock to flood through him. It appeared to be a legal document adding Harry as Draco's next of kin should something happen to him. Harry stared down at the piece of paper, his mind going a little blank as his heart began to race.

 

“This…”

 

“I’m still listed as needing to be contacted in the case of an emergency, but it’s just a courtesy. Everything important when it comes to Draco is now yours to worry about.”

 

When Harry finally managed to drag his eyes up from the paper, it was to see Astoria smiling at him. It wasn’t the grin she wore so often around him, but a real smile that lit up her entire face. Without even thinking, he stepped forward and scooped her into his arms, spinning her around so she began to laugh again.

 

“Thank you.” The words were whispered in her ear as he slid her back down to the ground.

 

Astoria merely smiled up at him again before swatting his arm, moving him off towards the living room. “Go on. I’m sure he won’t mind _you_ waking him up.”

 

Warmth was beginning to spread slowly through Harry’s limbs, replacing the numbness of the shock. He pushed the door of the living room open again and moved to stand before the lounge. Draco's fringe flopped across his forehead and the blanket Astoria had obviously placed over him rose and fell in a rhythmic pattern, causing a smile to spread across Harry’s face again.

 

Removing his wand from the holster on his trousers, he waved it over the lounge, widening it just enough so he could comfortably lie down with Draco. He yanked his shoes off and dumped them at the end of the lounge, causing Draco to frown.

 

“Harry?” Draco's voice was thick with sleep. He raised the blanket anyway, seemingly moving on automatic. “What’s going on?”

 

“Nothing, it’s alright.” Harry slipped in under the blanket so Draco could drop it again. “Go back to sleep.”

 

Draco hummed in response as he tucked the blanket up under his chin again. He slumped down onto Harry’s chest, his breathing evening out already. Running his hand down Draco's spine, Harry couldn’t help smiling.

 

“I love you, Draco.”

 

“Mmm, you too.”

 

Settling down with Draco on top of him, Harry sighed softly. They could talk later, he knew. There was no point in disturbing Draco now.


	16. Chapter 16

The screech of a bird woke Harry early on Thursday morning. Rolling to his side, he automatically flung an arm out to hit the alarm but managed to stop himself just in time when he realised that it hadn’t yet gone off. Frowning at the clock, he blinked a few times to make sure he was reading the numbers correctly. 5:23. He threw himself onto his back with a loud sigh.

 

“ _What_ are you being so dramatic about?”

 

Harry jumped and sat up so quickly his head spun a little. “What are you doing in here?”

 

“This _was_ my bedroom before you moved in, you know.” Harry could hear the smirk in Draco's voice even if he couldn’t quite see it in the early morning gloom. “Do you want me to leave?”

 

“No, I like waking up with you here.” Harry slid over so he could lie down half on top of Draco's back. Draco let out an overdramatic grunt that had Harry smiling in response. “It doesn’t happen often enough.”

 

“Mmm, I’ll make sure to wake you at 5 o’clock more often, then.”

 

“Actually…” Harry ran a hand along Draco's side to rest on his hip. “I’m not sure I enjoy it _quite_ that much.”

 

He let out a laugh when Draco attempted to elbow him. Sliding his hand back up Draco's side, Harry shifted a little so he was lying more on top of Draco’s back than on the bed. It was an incredibly unusual feeling for him, as Draco had never once allowed him to switch their positions during sex before. Not that it had bothered Harry all that much, but it had occurred to him that that was probably a little strange. Bending down, he ran his lips over the base of Draco's neck, sucking lightly on his salty skin.

 

“You taste so good.”

 

“Harry?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Get off me; you’re heavy.”

 

There was an odd tone to Draco's voice that had Harry obeying the demand immediately. “What–”

 

“I’ve been thinking about something Father said the other day,” Draco interrupted Harry’s question. The strange tone was completely gone and, considering the fact that Draco immediately pushed Harry onto his back and moved to straddle his hips, Harry pushed the thought to the back of his mind, figuring he had imagined the tone. “About Scorpius and your children.”

 

That grabbed Harry’s attention completely. “Did Lily do something while I wasn’t there?”

 

“No.” Harry could now definitely make out the small smile Draco gave in the slowly lightening room. “He wasn’t talking about Lily. It was more about Scorpius and how he would react to having so many new children around permanently and having to share both Astoria and I.”

 

A strange tingle of what felt like nerves flashed through Harry’s stomach, causing him to frown. He shoved at Draco until he could sit up on the bed. The move earned him a grunt of disapproval from Draco, but he wanted to be able to think this one through properly. This was something that had run through his mind a few times since Christmas, but he had always come to the conclusion that the children all got along relatively well. He knew that Scorpius and Albus had gotten along really well over the Christmas break and that Scorpius and James had had fun playing Quidditch when they had all been home the weekend before the trial had begun, but those times had been short compared to an entire two months over summer. It was then that Draco's phrasing finally sunk into Harry’s mind. _Something Father said…_

 

“Did Lucius imply that the children weren’t going to get along, or is this coming straight from you?” Watching Draco as he was, it would have been impossible for Harry to miss the slight downturn of Draco's lips. He sighed. “I didn’t mean to insult either you or your Father, but…”

 

He trailed off with a shake of his head, unsure how to phrase what he was thinking. The bed dipped when Draco moved, crawling so he was sitting back up against the headboard beside Harry.

 

“I know it’s instinctual for you to not believe a word Father says, but please believe me that he knows Scorpius well. Scorp is so used to having the two of us to himself that it may come as a bit of a shock to him to realise that that isn’t going to be the case anymore. I honestly don’t know how he will react to that.” Draco paused to stretch his arms above his head, allowing the old t-shirt of Harry’s he had worn to bed to slide up his stomach a little. “What if he can’t adjust to the change? What if James and Albus can’t adjust to the change? What if Lily decides she preferred having you to herself and doesn’t want to share you with any of the boys anymore? There are so many things that can go wrong over this summer and I just… The boys are coming home in two days, Harry. _Two days_ and this could all come crashing down around us. And all in the three weeks before the wedding.”

 

Harry nodded slowly, mostly to let Draco know he had understood, because there was nothing useful he could add to those thoughts at that point in time. Draco was absolutely correct on many of the points he had made, but Harry wasn’t so sure he could agree. Scorpius, James and Albus could very well all have negative reactions to being around each other all the time. Lily could also decide that she hated all three of the boys and act out against them. Although, Harry figured, if he was being completely honest, then that last could happen at any point in time and for no discernible reason. Lily had always been the most unpredictable of his children, after all. He grinned when Draco nudged him and cocked an eyebrow in question.

 

“That’s a lot of ifs.” His grin widened into a proper smile when Draco rolled his eyes. “Look, I’m sure it _could_ all happen. Hell, I’m pretty sure Lily is going to have a meltdown about one or even all three of the boys sometime in the future, but I’m not sure it’ll be this summer. Yes, it will take a lot of adjusting, but they’re kids. Adjusting to changing situations is one of the things that children are a lot better at than adults.”

 

Draco shot him a dubious look before sliding straight down the bed so he was lying flat on his back. The move caused Harry’s old t-shirt to hitch up around Draco’s waist, but that didn’t seem to bother him, as his only reaction was to glare up at the canopy of the bed.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Father has been wrong about many things in the past.” Harry only just managed to hold back a snort of laughter when he realised Draco was being serious. “But he knows his family. For so long, Mother and I were all Father had left, then Scorpius came along and gave Father someone else to… I don’t know… Care for? Focus on?” He shook his head. “Whatever it was, Scorpius gave Father some kind of hope for the future or something. Father knows him very well and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was right about this one, despite how well Scorp seems to get along with your boys.”

 

“Okay.” Harry shifted so he was lying on his side propped up on his elbow. “So what can we do then?”

 

Draco was silent for a long while, just staring up at the canopy of the bed. Instead of pushing him for an answer, Harry watched his chest rising and falling, the faded pattern of his t-shirt distorting as it rose and fell in time to Draco's breaths. He knew that there would be no easy solution if the boys decided that they couldn’t stand each other. He also knew that they would most likely not know exactly what to do about it until the time came. Still, he allowed Draco time to come up with an answer, just in case. Spending the next few minutes just watching Draco breathe proved an interesting pastime and Harry nearly jumped when Draco huffed out a frustrated sigh.

 

“Are you just going to stare at me all morning?”

 

Harry grinned. “Of course not. I’ve got work in a few hours.”

 

“ _Harry_.”

 

“ _Draco_.”

 

“You are unbelievably frustrating, you know that? I _was_ trying to have an actual conversation.”

 

“I know and I’m sorry, but…” Harry moved so he was hovering over Draco, who scowled up at him. “There honestly isn’t all that much we can do about something that may or may not happen in the future. I don’t even see how we can plan for something like that; there’s too many variables.”

 

Draco hummed before running his hands down Harry’s back, softly kneading the muscles there. “Maybe you’re right.”

 

“‘Maybe’?” Harry cocked an eyebrow at him and received smirk in response.

 

Draco nodded decisively. “Maybe.” His hands continued their exploration of Harry’s back and sides, digging his fingers into all the places where tension usually built. “We’ll wait and see. We’ve only got two days to wait.”

 

Leaning in so he could brush their lips together lightly, Harry smiled. “Mmm, I’m much more excited about the three week wait.”

 

Draco's responding smile could only be described as dirty. “Three weeks,” he agreed, allowing his hands to press into the small of Harry’s back, bringing their bodies together. “You sure you’re ready?”

 

More than willing to settle on top of Draco, Harry grinned. “‘Mr. and Mr. Potter’ has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” Draco's eyes widened with surprise, causing laughter to bubble up from what felt like the very bottom of Harry’s stomach. “Maybe even Malfoy-Potter?”

 

Draco shoved against the bed, rolling them so he pinned Harry to the mattress. “Mr. and Mr. _Malfoy_ sounds much better to me.”

 

“Of course it bloody does,” Harry managed to grumble in response just before Draco claimed his lips in a heated kiss.

 

Opening his mouth to allow Draco in when his tongue pressed against his lips, Harry let out a contented sound. Draco was so warm against him that Harry’s head immediately began to swim with lust. Soft and hard in all the right places, Draco shifted on top of him, his hands seeming to be everywhere all at once. A strange sound pulled Harry’s attention away from Draco for a few seconds, but Draco made sure to recapture it in the next second. Harry was so focussed on the sensations Draco was sending through him that he only just barely registered the soft knock on the door before it opened.

 

“Dad?”

 

Harry could have sworn he had never seen Draco move so swiftly in his life. Rolling off to the opposite side of the bed, his eyes flicked to the curtain surrounding the bed, obviously checking to see whether Lily could see inside. Reaching out, Harry smoothed a hand through Draco's hair, flattening a part he had managed to muss up.

 

“It’s alright,” he whispered with a small smile.

 

Draco's terse nod in response had Harry thankful that they had only just got going, as he was in a much more socially acceptable condition than Draco was at that moment. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, checking to make sure that his pyjamas were straight. He slid out between the curtains with one last glance back to Draco, who was still watching him with a slightly panicked look in his eyes. There was nothing he could do to help calm Draco down at that moment, he knew, so he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He would be back soon, anyway. Lily was standing in the doorway in her pyjamas, a teddy bear clasped in her arms.

 

“What’s up, Lil?”

 

“I had a bad dream.”

 

“Oh, baby girl…”

 

Harry scooped Lily up in his arms and carried her back towards her bedroom. Judging by the sleepy sounds she made in response to his questions about the dream, he knew she was still half-asleep, so he lowered his voice in an attempt to not wake her properly. By the time they made it to her bedroom, Lily was practically asleep again in his arms.

 

“Here we are, baby girl,” Harry whispered as he lay her down on her bed. “Back to sleep, Lils.”

 

The sleepy hum he received in response caused Harry to smile. With one last look back to where Lily lay sleeping, he closed the door nearly all the way. It had been a while since any of his children had had nightmares, but he thought nothing of it; it wasn’t like they had the kind of history he or Draco had to dream about.

 

He practically jogged back through the house once he was clear of Lily’s bedroom. The look of pure panic on Draco's face when Lily had opened the door was now forcing its way to the forefront of Harry’s mind, causing his strides to lengthen. He shoved the door to the bedroom open to find Draco sitting on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. Moving swiftly over to him, Harry fell to his knees and looked up into Draco's face.

 

“Dray?”

 

“ _How_ did she get through the wards? I set them myself last night. It shouldn’t have been possible…”

 

“Lily’s accidental magic has always been strong.” Without even thinking about it, Harry reached to run a hand through Draco's hair. The move gained Draco's attention, his eyes fixing on Harry’s face with an intensity that sent tingles of awareness along Harry’s skin. “Is that the first time someone has walked in on you?”

 

“‘Someone’, Potter? _Someone_? That was your ten year old daughter! How can you be so calm about this?” Sitting up straight, Draco shot him a look that was a mix of horror and concern. “You know, it would be just my luck to traumatise the _one_ of your children who actually likes me three weeks before the bloody wedding.”

 

Unable to help himself, Harry began to laugh. Unfortunately, the insulted look that crossed Draco's face only made Harry’s situation worse, causing his laughter to increase.

 

“You’re _laughing_ at me?” Draco stood quickly, knocking Harry onto his arse before stalking into the bathroom. “Thanks a lot, Potter.”

 

It took Harry much longer than he had hoped to get himself back under control. The insulted look Draco had shot him just kept returning and causing his laughter to double again each time he thought he had gotten himself under control. By the time he had stopped wheezing and had wiped the tears from his eyes, he could hear the shower running in the bathroom. Taking a steadying breath, he made his way into the steamy room.

 

“Fuck off, Potter.”

 

Harry nodded. He deserved that one. He began to strip off quickly before clearing his throat to gain Draco's attention.

 

“No.” A huff of breath told Harry that Draco was actually angry at him this time. He almost hesitated before stepping into the shower with him naked, fear for his bits causing his heartrate to increase. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have laughed. It was stupid of me to not remember how panic-inducing having a child walk in on you for the first time can be.”

 

Harry’s hands instinctively dropped to cover himself when Draco sighed and spun around. Draco's responding smirk when his eyes dropped to see what Harry’s hands were covering had Harry hesitantly smiling back, but he kept his hands where they were, just in case.

 

“Good to see you have your priorities straight, at least.”

 

Draco's arms crossed across his chest and he made no move to indicate whether Harry’s fear for his privates was justified or not. Unsure whether he would be cursed or not if he moved, Harry decided to stay where he was in the corner of the shower; it was probably safer that way, he figured.

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…” He cocked his head to the side and offered up a small smile.

 

Draco eyed him for a few seconds before his posture relaxed. “Come here.” He grinned when Harry still hesitated. “Are you sure about you trusting me?”

 

That was all Harry needed. Stepping forward, he dragged Draco into a kiss of the same intensity as the one that Lily had interrupted a few minutes before. Draco responded immediately, spinning them around so Harry’s back was pressed to the heated tiles on the wall. Completely unwilling to do anything else other than obey whatever Draco's increasingly insistent hands were telling him to do, it wasn’t long before Harry was panting for breath and arching into Draco’s touch. Harry knew that when Draco really put his mind to it, he could probably get Harry off in a matter of mere minutes and it seemed that Draco was concentrating quite hard that morning.

 

It wasn’t long before Draco gasped out the lubrication spell and grasped both of their cocks in his hand. Harry wasn’t allowed much time to breathe before Draco was stroking him rapidly, stealing what little breath he had away with the sensations he was sending through him. The feeling of the hot water splashing over them combined with the rapidly building pressure inside him caused Harry to let out strange little noises: gasps, half-pleas for more, grunted demands for _harder_ or _faster_. Draco responded immediately each time, adding his other hand, or squeezing just that little more, or increasing his pace until Harry’s head fell forward onto his shoulder.

 

“I… _Fuck_ …”

 

“Come, Harry… Come for me…”

 

Harry let out a high-pitched whine when Draco pressed his fingers to his perineum. His stomach muscles clenched and his hips jerked forward before his orgasm hit, coating both of their hands and stomachs with jet after jet of hot cum. Draco followed along not long after, moaning and thrusting into his hand. His cock spasming beside Harry’s increased Harry’s pleasure for a few more seconds, causing him to groan when Draco released him and they both slid to the floor of the shower. Lying there with the water spraying in his face, panting for breath, Harry had to grin.

 

“I do trust you, Draco. With all of my bits.”

 

“Of course you do, twit. I never doubted that.”

 

Harry let out a winded-sounding chuckle when Draco dragged himself up so he could press their lips together. “‘Twit’?”

 

“Shut-up and just enjoy your afterglow, Potter. I worked hard for that.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this is so late! Sorry! I had a dog-shaped emergency! :/

“Don’t wander too far off, Lily.”

 

Harry kept his eyes pinned to Lily’s red hair weaving through the crowds at King’s Cross Station a little ahead of him. He had resisted the urge to make her hold his hand as they negotiated their way towards Platform 9 ¾, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t still worried that he would lose her. Despite the fact that she was now only just under two months off from being eleven years old, she still wasn’t all that tall, which made it slightly more difficult for him to keep track of her. He let out a sigh of relief when she turned back and made her over to him.

 

“But Dad, I need to _go_.” Flicking her eyes over towards the public restrooms to her right, Lily raised her eyebrows at him. “You know, to the toilet,” she added in a quieter voice when Harry didn’t respond.

 

Having to resist the urge to roll his eyes – he was almost totally convinced that Lily thought him a complete idiot – Harry nodded. “Alright then, come on.”

 

He glanced over his shoulder to make eye contact with Draco, who was watching the interaction with an amused smirk. This time, Harry did roll his eyes, but he indicated what was going on and began to turn back towards the restrooms without questioning Draco's amusement. Draco responded by shaking his head with a strange look in his eyes, but Harry didn’t have time to try to work out if there was any kind of significance to the action.

 

It was impossible for Harry to stand outside the women’s toilets waiting for Lily without feeling like a creep, but he knew he had no choice. Even if the Muggles didn’t have any kind of idea who he was, he still didn’t trust strangers around his little girl. He placed his hand between Lily’s shoulder blades, grabbing her attention.

 

“I’ll be right out here, alright?” When it seemed that Lily was paying more attention to something behind him, Harry waved a hand in front of her to get her attention again. “Lily?”

 

“Draco mentioned you may want a hand?”

 

Harry spun around at the sound of Astoria’s voice, realisation at what Draco shaking his head had meant rippling through him. The look on Draco's face had apparently been wonder at his stupidity in not thinking of Astoria being with them. He grinned and muttered a slightly shamed thanks to Astoria as she moved past him. He was now so used to not having a woman with him when he took Lily out that Astoria had completely slipped his mind. Making his way back to Draco, he had to shake his head at the recent changes that had occurred in his life.

 

A scandal, a divorce, an engagement, and a change of job all in the space of ten months. Not to mention the fact that he had been outed by his now ex-wife, had destroyed Draco's privacy, and had run the risk of ruining a lot of the friendships he had cherished since he had been eleven years old himself. It had been a hell of a year and the best part of it was still to come.

 

 _Three weeks_ , he continued to tell himself. _Three weeks and I’ll be marrying Draco._ It was still a little unbelievable to him, but the excitement continued to build.

 

He smiled when he pushed past a man who was arguing with someone on his phone to find Draco standing off to the side of the crowd. Dressed all in black that day, the contrast between Draco's clothing and his pale hair and skin was stunning. Harry’s smile widened when Draco met his eyes and quirked his lips up in a mockery of a smile in return. Stepping up to him, shock rushed through Harry’s chest when Draco's arm snaked around his waist, pulling him closer.

 

“What–”

 

“How come you _never_ realise when you’re being checked out, Potter?” The words were low, almost hissed in Harry’s ear, sending a shiver through him. “It’s a wonder you ever got laid at all after school.”

 

Harry huffed out a laugh at the insult. “I never notice because I don’t need to look anymore.” The shot of heat that warmed Harry’s limbs when Draco dragged his gaze from whoever had been apparently checking him out and met his eyes had Harry grinning. “Is he good-looking at least?”

 

“No, Potter, _she_ isn’t.”

 

Unable to help it, Harry let out an amused chuckle. Feeling the need to mark his territory – so to speak – when Harry was being checked out by someone was about as possessive as Draco allowed himself to be in public these days and it always sent pleasure shivering through Harry. The very fact that Harry himself was the only thing capable of making Draco loosen his strict public standards was such a powerful feeling and Harry always enjoyed it to the hilt when he could. That day, however, he knew that they ran the risk of being seen by someone from the wizarding world, so he stepped back from Draco with only a small sigh. He was absolutely determined to respect Draco's boundaries, even if he found them ridiculous. The softer expression Draco wore when Harry met his eyes again almost had Harry stepping forward again, but he held himself back.

 

“It’s odd that we haven’t seen anyone else yet.” Harry shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and glanced around, hoping the change in subject would distract him from the inappropriate thoughts that were beginning to drift through his mind with Draco watching him like that. “The Weasleys are difficult to miss.”

 

“Particularly when you’re as observant as you appear to be today.” There was no malice to Draco's voice, only amusement. “Look behind you, over to the right.”

 

Harry spun around, automatically searching for Ron, who was the easiest of the Weasleys to spot in a crowd. Who he spotted instead had him smiling wide.

 

“Harry!”

 

Teddy Lupin’s long legs carried him through the crowds much faster than Harry would have managed. Harry knew it should have occurred to him that Teddy would be there to greet Victoire and congratulate her on graduating, but he had been so preoccupied thinking about his own boys that Teddy had simply slipped his mind. Guilt trailed slowly down his spine as he drew Teddy into a hard embrace.

 

“It’s good to see you, Ted. You’re here with Bill and Fleur?”

 

“Yeah.” Teddy ran a hand along the back of his neck, looking as though he would much rather be there by himself. “It’s still a little awkward with Bill, but we’ll get past it, I know we will. Vic’s too important for me to just let her go because her Father disapproves of me.”

 

The determination Harry could see in Teddy’s face caused his smile to widen further. “You are so like your Mother sometimes, Ted.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what Grandmother keeps telling me.”

 

“And how is my Aunt doing?” The smirk Draco offered up when Teddy jumped at his question had Harry rolling his eyes again. “It has been a while since she made contact with my Mother.”

 

It was plainly obvious to Harry that Draco enjoyed how nervous he could make people with his presence alone. The amusement in his eyes when Teddy stammered out an answer was proof enough of that. He was just about to nudge Draco in the ribs to stop him from scaring Teddy when Lily re-appeared through the crowd with Astoria in tow. Lily’s greeting to Teddy put Draco's interrogation to rest, as Teddy took the opportunity to scoop a squealing Lily up onto his shoulders and begin to carry her off towards the entrance to the platform. Harry grinned when Draco offered his arm to Astoria and, without another word, began to follow Teddy and Lily through the crowd. If he hadn’t known better, he would have assumed that Draco disliked Teddy, but, after having lived with him for as long as he had at that point, Harry knew he was a fairly good judge of Draco's moods and inclinations. This wasn’t dislike. No, it was more like Draco was testing the waters with Teddy, finding out what buttons he could push and how hard. Draco raised an eyebrow at him when Harry grabbed the back of his suit jacket to prevent him from following Astoria onto the platform.

 

“You have to stop teasing Teddy. Bill makes him nervous enough with his ‘overprotective Father’ routine.”

 

The intensity that Draco studied him with for a few seconds sent a shiver of nerves through Harry. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, but refused to look away.

 

“It seems the Weasley isn’t the only Father who is overprotective of his children here,” Draco murmured.

 

There was a strange tone to his voice and a small frown creased his forehead, causing Harry to wonder whether Draco would consider it a bad thing that Harry treated Teddy like he was one of his own children. However, he knew there was no point in denying that he considered Teddy one of his own, even if Teddy was a little too old for that to be realistic. Deciding to just brush the strange tone aside, Harry grinned.

 

“No, he isn’t.”

 

The warm look of approval that entered Draco's expression immediately after this declaration stunned Harry a little, but he smiled back tentatively anyway. At the very least, he knew he could take the expression to mean that Draco didn’t disapprove of the idea. Draco silently gestured for Harry to precede him through the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ with a small bow that he somehow managed to not make look mocking. Unable to help himself, Harry brushed the tips of his fingers over the back of one of Draco's hands as he moved past him, earning himself another small smile.

 

The anticipation from earlier in the day seemed to be spiking as Harry stepped through to the platform. It was time to bring his boys home and he couldn’t have been more excited.

 

*~*

 

The steam from the train washed over the platform as it pulled in, fogging Draco's view. Instead of being bothered by the billowing white cloud, he found himself rather thankful for the few seconds reprieve it afforded him from the prying eyes of seemingly everyone else on the whole platform. He ducked his head and, under the pretence of covering his mouth and nose from the steam, took a few deep breaths to try to help himself regain some of the control he had lost on the way onto the platform.

 

He had known that he and Harry would be the focus of damn-near everyone’s attention that day. It was completely unavoidable unless one of them chose to use either a glamour or Polyjuice and Draco knew for damn sure that neither of them was going to resort to that much of an extreme to avoid the press. Not when their children were involved, at least.

 

 _Children_. Draco raised his head as he began to hear shrieks of greeting coming from up and down the platform. He knew it shouldn’t have surprised him to discover that Harry considered Teddy Lupin to basically be one of his own children. In fact, when he thought about it for a few seconds, it made perfect sense and wasn’t even in the slightest bit surprising, not with Harry’s determined focus on family, anyway.

 

No, what had undone him on the way onto the platform had been the light brush of Harry’s fingers over the back of his left hand just before he entered the door to the platform combined with the look of complete adoration that had been showing plainly on his face. It was such a _simple_ thing, but Draco's hand still tingled where Harry’s fingers had touched and his stomach was still flipping when he caught a glimpse of Harry through the sea of Weasleys he was surrounded by. He knew Harry loved him, but to have it shown so openly like that and in such a public place… Draco shook his head and tried to focus.

 

“Oh, Mum, not here!” Draco's head whipped around at the familiar voice to see Astoria planting a kiss on Scorpius’ forehead. Scorpius squirmed, a deep red blush covering him from his hairline to his chest. “You’re embarrassing me!”

 

Taking the few steps that were needed to bring him close enough to be within speaking distance, Draco cleared his throat. “Your Mother misses you when you’re at school, Scorp.”

 

The relief on Scorpius’ face when he caught sight of Draco nearly made Draco laugh. He allowed himself a small smile when Scorpius wriggled away from his Mother’s grasp and moved to stand beside him.

 

“Are you saying you don’t miss me?”

 

The glint of mischief in Scorpius’ eyes reminded Draco so much of Astoria that he had to grin. He ducked his head to hide it from the rest of the world, but reached to ruffle his son’s hair.

 

“It’s good to have you back, Scorp.”

 

“It’s good to be back, Dad.” Scorpius’ eyes flicked over Draco's shoulder and he nodded, causing Draco to frown in confusion. “Look, I was talking to Al about where we’re going to be staying this summer. Are we going to be at Grimmauld Place much?”

 

Suspicion filtered through the amusement Draco had been feeling and he glanced over his shoulder to where Scorpius had been looking. His eyes fell on Albus, who was standing not too far off with Harry, Lily and James. Albus didn’t seem to have realised Draco was watching him, as his eyes were still obviously fixed on Scorpius. Al grinned and nodded, causing Draco to glance back to Scorpius.

 

“What are the two of you planning?”

 

“Nothing Dad, I swear!” Scorpius opened his eyes wide in an innocent look that didn’t have Draco fooled for one second. “It’s just… Al says there’s a lot of Black family heirlooms and a tapestry of the family tree and… I don’t know! I thought it might be cool to see what the other side of your part of the family were like, I guess. I’m just curious, I promise!”

 

Astoria’s light laugh reached Draco's ears over the raucous sounds of the Weasley family reunion. Meeting her eyes, they had a quick, silent conversation, but it seemed to him that she was just as clueless as he was when it came to what Scorp and Al could be plotting. When Scorpius let out an impatient-sounding noise, Draco came to a quick decision. He would tell him the truth and try to decide what to do based off Scorpius’ reaction to his words.

 

“I honestly have no idea whether we will be spending any time at Grimmauld, Scorp. We haven’t really planned anything out for the summer, other than the wedding and Harry and Lily’s birthdays.”

 

He watched Scorpius’ reaction carefully, hoping to be able to tell whether there was something planned that he should worry about. Unfortunately for Draco, however, Scorpius had inherited the Malfoy habit of being able to hide his reactions to even those closest to him. Draco watched for any kind of disappointment or excitement, or even just a bloody twitch of the child’s eyebrow, but Scorpius stayed carefully blank.

 

“Oh. Well, that’s alright. Maybe we can go there one day, though? I’d like to see inside the place at least once.”

 

With that, Scorpius ducked away from both Draco and Astoria and moved through the crowds to where Draco could see Blaise and his daughter. Draco sighed when he heard Astoria laughing quietly beside him.

 

“He really is your son, you know.”

 

“Really? I thought he more took after you, with your talent for causing trouble wherever you go,” Draco grumbled in response, but offered her up a small smile anyway. “Do you think the two of them could get into too much trouble?”

 

“In a house that has been magically hidden from regular society by not only the Blacks but also Albus Dumbledore for decades now? No, I can’t _possibly_ see what dangers two almost-teenage boys could get into in a house like that. I’m sure it’s _perfectly_ safe.”

 

“A simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed, you know.”

 

“I know.”

 

Draco couldn’t help returning the smile Astoria shot him before she wandered over to greet Blaise. He turned towards Harry and the rest of the Weasleys in time to hear Harry accepting an invitation for a picnic the next weekend from Hermione.

 

“Is that alright with you, Draco?”

 

Draco's traitorous stomach chose that moment to begin to flip again as he met Harry’s eyes. Clearing his throat to prevent himself from giving away what he was feeling, he offered up his polite public smile.

 

“Of course. Harry’s been talking about wanting to have a get-together with everyone for a while now,” he added to Hermione. “Now that the children are back, it seems appropriate.”

 

He knew he sounded incredibly formal and the odd look Harry shot him confirmed it. He shook his head, however, refusing to go into detail in public. Thankfully, Harry seemed to understand, as he returned to talking to Hermione for the next few minutes while Draco simply people watched.

 

It seemed to him that the Weasley clan got along pretty well all in all. Percy was standing off to the side with his two daughters, and Bill and George were holding court in the middle of the sea of red hair, laughing and joking with the eldest of the children. A quick glance around showed Draco that Teddy and Victoire had snuck off into one of the alcoves and were currently entwined closely around each other. It was so loud and everyone appeared to be so happy that Draco couldn’t help wondering what it had been like growing up in such a large family. A strange sensation flittered through him when he realised that Scorpius now had the chance to experience something that he had been denied when he was a youth: a large, loving family. Not that Lucius and Narcissa had been uncaring; he had been doted on as much as any other only child. But _this_ … Draco sighed. This was something that he knew Scorpius should at least have the option to experience, even if it was the Weasleys.

 

“Draco?”

 

He blinked rapidly, dragged out of his thoughts by Harry’s soft voice. “Yes?”

 

“Everything alright?” Harry followed Draco's gaze and smiled. “I know they’re overwhelming, but–”

 

“No,” Draco cut him off. “It’s fine. I’ll have to get used to the noise at some point, right?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The wide smile Harry offered up sent a shot of heat through Draco's chest, causing him to smile in return. Reaching down, he brushed his fingers lightly through Harry’s before curling them so he was holding Harry’s hand softly in his own. Maybe Harry had been right a few weeks back when he had suggested that Draco couldn’t live his entire life behind the shields he had put up against the world after the end of the War. Maybe this picnic with the Weasleys could be the start of Draco living a new life, one where he didn’t have to hide.


	18. Chapter 18

‘…so I was thinking that we could maybe just go to the small field near Luna and Rolf’s house in the Lake District. They won’t be there because they and the boys are off searching for something Luna heard a rumour of the other month.”

 

Harry nodded numbly, hoping that Hermione would just keep talking. He had been standing there for the past few minutes on the platform almost frozen with the shock that had hit him the second Draco's fingers had laced through his. Of course, Draco had made no indication that what he was doing was incredibly strange. No, in fact, the bloody man appeared to be almost bored, his eyes drifting over the people in front of him, never settling on one person for more than a few seconds.

 

“Harry?”

 

He jumped, startled out of his thoughts by Hermione’s voice. “Yeah, that sounds good. Do you know exactly where Luna and Rolf are?” He could have sworn he caught the ghost of a smile tilt the edges of Draco's lips up, but he pushed the thought aside and refocussed on Hermione. “It’s unusual for them to leave for so long these days.”

 

“No, I don’t and yes it is. They’ll have to be back by the time school starts up again, though, because of the boys. I’m sure they won’t mind us using the field, though; they never have before, after all.”

 

Harry nodded. His right leg was starting to ache from standing in the same position for so long, but he didn’t want to move and cause Draco to remove his hand. It was pathetic, he knew, but it also seemed like such a big step for Draco to have taken in public that he didn’t want to ruin it. It seemed, however, that Al had no such reservations.

 

“Dad!”

 

Draco's fingers loosened in Harry’s hand and he stepped away as Al came rushing up to them from where he had been standing with a group of his cousins. Harry bit back a sigh before turning a tight smile on his son.

 

“What’s up, Al?”

 

“We’re going to the Burrow with the others tomorrow night, right?”

 

Harry blinked. He had completely forgotten about the tradition of stopping by the Burrow for dinner the first weekend that everyone was home. Of course, the first day they were all home was counted out if it was a Saturday – as it was that year – because everyone was too busy getting re-settled at home, but come Sunday, everyone who was even remotely a Weasley would be invited over for a large family dinner. At least, that was what would normally happen. Harry automatically glanced to where Draco stood watching the interaction.

 

“I’d like to, Al.” He turned back to Albus when Draco gave no indication that he was opposed to the idea. “I’ll get in touch with your Grandmother as soon as we get back home.”

 

“Is ‘home’ Grimmauld?”

 

A small sound almost like a snort of laughter from Draco distracted Harry for a few seconds, but when he could see nothing other than mild amusement in Draco's expression, he turned back to Al again. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to the Manor first off, at least. We might get back to Grimmauld sometime during the holidays, I don’t know. We haven’t really planned anything like that. Why?”

 

“Oh, I, er…” Al grinned when Harry raised an eyebrow at his hesitation. “No reason. It’s just, I told Scorp about some of the things there and he said he wants to take a look at some of the family crested stuff that’s there. He’s related to the Black family. Did you know?”

 

“Yes,” Harry replied slowly as suspicion chased down his spine. “His Grandmother is a Black, just the same as Aunt Andromeda.”

 

“Oh, right…” Al shot Harry another grin before turning to glance over his shoulder to where Harry could see Astoria and Scorpius speaking with Blaise and his daughter. “I, er, I kind of forgot that. Oh well. I’ll let him know, alright?”

 

With that, Al took off, weaving his way through the crowd towards Scorpius. Having to tell himself that it was a good thing that Al and Scorpius apparently got along so well, Harry tried to push the suspicion growing in him to the back of his mind. He watched as Al greeted Scorpius and, along with Blaise’s daughter – Carmel? – the three of them put their heads together and began a whispered discussion. Harry sighed as he turned back to where both Hermine and Draco were watching him.

 

“Well, that doesn’t look suspicious at all,” he muttered, causing Hermione to grin.

 

“Didn’t you want them to get along?”

 

“Well, yes, but…” Harry trailed off with a sound that was very like a growl. “What I _don’t_ want to be dealing with is two almost-teenage boys who are constantly getting into trouble.”

 

“Because you _never_ got into trouble when you were that age.”

 

Harry was just about to point out that Hermione had been right there, getting into trouble by his side, just as Ron had been by the end of their first year when Draco interrupted.

 

“She has a point, you know.”

 

Harry found he could only stare with his mouth slightly open as Draco smirked at him. First the public hand-holding and now Draco was siding with Hermione against him? All within the space of a couple of minutes? His eyes narrowed as suspicion flooded through him again.

 

“You’re supposed to be on my side here!”

 

Draco's smirk widened into a proper grin for a few seconds before he got himself under control again. “Oh, I am, believe me. I wouldn’t trust those two alone in Grimmauld for one single second. In fact, Scorp tried the same thing on Astoria and I a few minutes ago as well. What I _am_ agreeing with Granger here on is that _you_ were much worse than either of those two could ever hope to be.”

 

The challenging look Draco shot him had Harry shaking his head in response. He had absolutely no idea what was going on with this sudden change in attitude Draco was suffering from, but he found that he liked it. Perhaps Draco had finally decided to loosen his strict public standards? That would certainly explain his willingness to stake his claim on Harry when he had been being checked out in King’s Cross. Perhaps the boys coming home and the upcoming wedding could be a new beginning for them all? Perhaps–

 

“Weasley.”

 

“Malfoy.”

 

Harry sighed at the sound of the hostility in both Draco and Ron’s voices. _So much for that idea._ He turned to face Ron, who appeared to have just stepped away from the middle of the group of Weasleys to wrap his arm around Hermione’s waist. There was a definite tension in the air, causing the hair on Harry’s arms to stand on end. He cleared his throat.

 

“Are, er, are we all meeting at the Burrow for dinner tomorrow then?”

 

It was a slightly desperate attempt at diffusing the situation before it could spark and the look Draco shot him told Harry that he had seen straight through it. It seemed that Draco was at least a little willing to try for civil, though, as he let out a breath and turned a polite look in Ron and Hermione’s direction.

 

“There’s no need to worry about securing an invitation for Scorpius and I. I’m sure he will be more than happy at the Manor for a few hours.”

 

Indignation caused Harry to stand up straighter at the suggestion that he would be willing to abandon Draco and Scorpius just because the Weasleys had invited him somewhere. He took a deep breath and was about to start objecting when Hermione beat him to it.

 

“Don’t be silly; of course the two of you would be invited.”

 

She waved her hand through the air as though to dismiss the notion as being as silly as she had claimed it to be before changing the subject again. Harry chanced a glance over to Draco, who was watching the interaction with an unreadable expression. He would have given anything for the ability to read that expression at that moment, but because that was impossible, Harry simply tried to put the worries it caused to spring to mind away.

 

Joining in the conversation after a few minutes, Harry lost track of the time as the platform emptied around them. Of course, he kept a close eye on each of the children and, when it appeared that none of them were going to start causing any kind of scene, he began to relax. It always felt so good to just be able to stand around and chat with his best friends – his family – and now that it looked like Draco was going to be able to fit into that equation somewhere, Harry was unable to prevent a huge smile from spreading across his face. The bubble of happiness that had been floating through him the entire morning now felt as though it was expanding, causing him to bounce a little as he debated the merits of supporting Puddlemere with Bill and George. The fact that Draco stood just a little way away, speaking in low tones to Astoria, Audrey and Percy and shooting Harry warm glances every now and then only intensified that happiness. They had come a long way over the past ten months and Harry discovered that he was quite proud of that fact.

 

*~*

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco couldn’t help smiling at the hesitancy in Harry’s voice. He had had the feeling that Harry was working up to ask him something during the course of the day and, now that they were finally alone in their bedroom, the time had apparently come.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I was wondering… Er, I mean…” Harry sighed, causing Draco's smile to widen. “Can I ask you something?”

 

Instead of answering straightaway, Draco continued getting undressed and ready for bed. Standing in front of his wardrobe, he slipped the last of the buttons of his black shirt through their loops and hung it up, ready to be the next morning’s work shirt.

 

“Of course.”

 

He listened carefully, waiting for the sigh of relief Harry always gave when he had made him wait for an answer to a question that he was obviously cautious about asking. It only took a second or two before he heard it. Knowing that Harry was so predictable made Draco's life so much easier; it meant that he didn’t have to work too hard to know how to react to him.

 

“Why… No, wait… _How come_ you’re so okay with the Weasleys? Why aren’t you fighting me wanting to keep contact with them? And why are you also okay with Scorp having contact with them? Especially Ron, considering how hostile the two of you still are.”

 

Grabbing one of Harry’s old t-shirts from where he had hidden it at the bottom of his wardrobe – the annoying git had the tendency to take them away from him if he found them – he pulled it on, then folded his trousers and placed them neatly beside the hamper before turning to face the bed. Harry was lying propped against the pillows, watching him intently.

 

“I’ve been looking for that shirt, you know.”

 

One corner of Draco's mouth tilted upwards as he made his way over to his side of the bed. “I know.”

 

This time, the sigh Harry let out was more resigned than anything else. “Fine, keep it.”

 

“I intend to.”

 

Draco grinned when Harry rolled his eyes. Sliding into the bed, he propped his own pillows against the headboard and wriggled until he was comfortable, giving himself a few extra seconds of thinking time before he had to answer Harry’s question.

 

“Comfortable?”

 

“As much as possible, I suppose.”

 

“Well?”

 

Sagging down against the soft pillows, Draco closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts. “I don’t believe I _am_ all that ‘okay’ with any of the Weasleys. Except possibly Percy; he’s different to the others.”

 

“Yeah, he is.” Harry let out a small huff of breath that Draco took as being amusement before continuing. “Then why would you continue to put up with them without complaining? You technically have every right to not want anything to do with them after everything that’s happened since we got together, so I don’t see _why_ you’re putting up with them.”

 

“Only technically?” Draco raised his hands in a placating gesture when Harry’s eyes narrowed in a glare. “Alright, alright.” Shoving himself up into a sitting position, he ran a hand through his hair. “I have always known that the Weasleys mean a lot to you. Even back in school, that was plainly obvious. Considering how much our Fathers despised each other all their lives, it’s really no wonder that I never got along with any of them; I always did pay too much attention to what my Father did and said back then. And I think…” He sighed as his chest constricted; this was something that he had never thought he would have to admit, especially to Harry. “I think that that closeness to you was the reason why I was always so antagonistic towards Ronald and his siblings. But it’s also why I know I have to at least make an attempt at being civil towards them now. You care for them and I won’t get in the way of that, just as you haven’t caused an issue with Astoria or my parents.”

 

The only sound in the room when Draco fell silent was their breathing, Draco's a little faster than Harry’s. Draco had been aware of his jealous streak since he was a teenager, but he had hoped that he would never have to admit to having one. Because that was exactly what this was: he had been jealous of Ronald Weasley and his friendship with Harry. It was pitiful. Taking a deep breath, he held it for a few seconds before letting it out in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

 

“You put up with them for _me_?”

 

There was so much confusion in Harry’s voice that Draco had to roll his eyes. “Of course I do, moron! It’s not like I would have had any contact with them otherwise, is it?” He huffed out an exasperated breath before looking up to meet Harry’s eyes. “Look, I’m aware that it sometimes seems like I would prefer you to have no contact with them at all, but they are your family, Harry. You wouldn’t ask me to cut contact with my parents, so I won’t do that to you.”

 

“But…” The bed rocked as Harry shifted position, moving so he was facing Draco directly. “You never once got along with any of them during school.”

 

“No, I didn’t.”

 

“And they never got along with you.”

 

“No, they didn’t.”

 

“And the same goes for after school.”

 

“It does.”

 

“But you sleeping with _me_ changed that.”

 

Draco sighed. “No, twit. Me falling for you changed that. If you were just a random fuck like the rest of the them were, then nothing would have changed, but you aren’t.” A twist in his stomach told Draco that Harry had really _never_ been ‘just’ anything for him, but he ignored it. “I love you. That means I will try to get along with any family members you have, no matter how insane they may be.”

 

Harry was silent for quite a while after Draco stopped, merely watching him with a thoughtful expression. Draco found himself thankful for the reprieve, as it gave him the chance to try to get his emotions back under control. He hadn’t expected to be assaulted with something like this that day and, considering how off-guard he had been when Harry had asked, he figured that he had handled it quite well. Even if his heart was racing and he was feeling the urge to clench his hands while he waited for Harry to respond. Eventually, after what seemed like hours but could have only been minutes at best, Harry began to smile.

 

“Harry?” When Harry didn’t respond, Draco reached out to place a hand on his shoulder and shake gently. “Harry?”

 

Draco let out a loud gasp when Harry shook his hand off and moved to straddle him. Scrambling to uncross his legs before Harry managed to crush him, Draco batted at Harry’s shoulders, trying to push him away.

 

“Harry!”

 

Sagging against Draco's chest the second he was settled in his lap, Harry let out a strange sound. “So this is what comes from me always being startled enough by Pansy’s arrival at the Manor that I’m automatically polite to her?”

 

Realising that the strange sound had been Harry’s attempt at holding a laugh in, Draco thumped a hand between Harry’s shoulders. “So you’re joking about this now? I admit to something that I have never told anyone else in the entire world and you’re laughing at me?”

 

Harry took a deep breath, the movement of the air ruffling Draco's hair a little. “No.”

 

“‘No’? That’s it? No explanation, I just have to take your word for it?”

 

It was a few seconds before Harry pulled back, but when he did, the serious look in his eyes almost cut off Draco's ability to breathe properly. The light from the candle on the bedside reflected off Harry’s glasses, obscuring Draco's view of his eyes for a few seconds, so he pulled them off and threw them onto the bedside with a clatter. The warmth and adoration that Draco clearly remembered from earlier in the day were shining through on Harry’s face.

 

“Ginny never made this kind of effort with me. We have the same friends and her family is the closest to a real family I have ever known, so there was no need for her to adjust to anything like this.” He shifted his position in Draco's lap so that it was easier for him to rest their foreheads together. “I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you over the past months. I’m not sure there’s that many other people out there who could take in me and the kids _and_ put up with everything that comes along with us. You have no idea how much it means to me that you haven’t simply up and left, especially after it became clear that you weren’t going to be easily accepted by the Weasleys.”

 

Running his hands up and down Harry’s back, Draco put a little pressure on his lower back, pressing them closer together. “You could show me, you know.”

 

The smile that spread across Harry’s face bordered on a leer, causing Draco's blood to start pumping a little faster through his veins. Settling back against the pillows as Harry slid down his body, Draco sighed with contentment. Despite the fact that he hadn’t said it in words, he knew that Harry felt the same about him and knowing it was more than enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so I'll admit to chickening out when it comes to the children this time around. But the rest of the chapters will have them in them. (May the Gods help me!)  
> Just please keep in mind that besides this and 19 Years, I have never written the next gen kids as actual children before, so it might come out sounding a little strange at some points. Hope fully not but we'll see.


	19. Chapter 19

“Scorp’s really good at potions too, you know. Not that I think _you’ll_ be any good; you actually have to have a talent for magic for things like potions to work, you know.”

 

“Shut-up, Al! I do have a talent for potions! Just because _you’re_ too stupid to be able to work out how to do anything other than sit on the sidelines at Quidditch practice doesn’t mean _I’m_ that dumb as well!”

 

Harry bit back a sigh as he stepped outside the Manor on Sunday morning. The sun had been beating down for a few hours by that time and, judging by the argument he was about to interrupt, he was beginning to think that telling all four of the children to go play outside for a while had been a bad idea. Still, he slowed his steps so he could hear Al’s response.

 

“The _sidelines_? What would you know about Quidditch? All you do is sit inside with your stupid books and read all day long! Even that cat of yours doesn’t sit there with you, she runs off the second you try to touch her. Why didn’t you get a pet that actually likes you?”

 

“ _You_ –”

 

“Alright guys, that’s more than enough of that.” Stepping around the corner of the hedge he had been hiding behind, Harry was just in time to grab Lily’s hand as she swung it backwards to punch her brother on the chin. “What do you two think you’re doing?”

 

“He’s–”

 

“She–”

 

“One at a time, please. Lily, you first.”

 

“But, Dad, _she_ –”

 

Albus’ mouth closed with a snap when Harry shot him a _look_. “I leave the two of you alone for less than two hours and when I come back, you are just about to come to blows. So. You are going to stay quiet while your sister speaks. _Then_ you will get your chance to tell your side.”

 

Harry watched as Al obviously debated with himself the merits of talking back to him. The quick flash of emotions across Al’s face sent amusement through Harry, but he tried to hide it by crossing his arms across his chest. Lily was smiling smugly at her brother, a habit that she seemed to have picked up from Draco. When Al said nothing more, Harry focussed on Lily.

 

“Lil?”

 

“Al’s been saying I won’t be magic enough to go to Hogwarts this year! He thinks that I’m wasting my time because he wants me to be a squib! He keeps saying I’ll have to go live with the Muggles because no one would want me in the magical world.”

 

The slight wobble to her voice as her words trailed off almost had Harry laughing, as he knew for a fact that Lily could cry on demand to get her own way if she really wanted. Al rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet, something Harry was thankful for. Reaching to place a hand on Lily’s shoulder, Harry let out a small gasp when she turned and wrapped her arms around his middle with an overdramatic sniffle. His hands automatically went around her shoulders, but he turned his attention to Al, who was shooting Lily a disbelieving look.

 

“Al?”

 

“She hid my Quaffle.”

 

Harry waited for more of an explanation, but Al seemed to think that this was more than enough of an excuse for the two of them to be arguing. Considering how obsessed he had been with Quidditch when he was Al’s age, Harry figured that if he had had a younger sister who had done that to him when he was twelve years old, he probably would have started telling her off as well. He couldn’t admit that, though. Standing there with Lily’s arms wrapped around his middle and Al glaring at her back, Harry shook his head. Maybe the lunch at the Burrow he had come outside to find them for would calm them both down? Or even wear them out a little, as they would have all of their cousins to run around with. He sighed when Al cocked an eyebrow at him.

 

“Alright, look. We are going to go to the Burrow and the two of you are going to stop fighting. You won’t have to be near each other for the next few hours, so you will both have time to cool down. Lily, you will give Al his Quaffle back. Al, you will stop telling your sister that she is a squib. _And_ ,” he added when Lily pulled back from his chest, her mouth open and obviously ready to protest. “If the two of you do not stop provoking each other, I will have to punish you. Do you really want to start the holidays missing some of your favourite things? Because I will take them from you and you will _not_ be getting them back until you apologise and show me you can act like civilised human beings.”

 

He watched as Al’s face contorted and shock crossed Lily’s. It seemed that Al was faster than Lil to recover, however.

 

“You can’t do that! It’s illegal to steal things!”

 

“I haven’t done _anything_!”

 

“Why are you always on her side?”

 

“He’s the one who started this! It wasn’t me at all! It _never_ is, but you won’t listen to me!”

 

The last things they both yelled at him were so in sync that Harry couldn’t actually understand either of them. He got the gist of it, though, when they both turned and stormed back towards the Manor, Lily’s hands clenched and Al stomping on every little piece of green that sprouted through the paving stones. Caught somewhere between amusement and frustration, Harry let out a growl as he ran his hands through his hair.

 

“Oh, you are a _terrible_ person, Potter.” The drawling voice came from just off to Harry’s left, causing him to grin. “If only the press knew how poorly you treat your own children; you’d never be lauded by the public ever again.”

 

“And we all know what a horrible tragedy that would be,” Harry responded as he turned towards where Draco stood just by one of the greenhouses, obviously having just exited, if the dirt on his hands was anything to go by. “I can just see the headline now: ‘The Saviour’ Caught Parenting His Own Children in Shocking Scandal!’”

 

Harry couldn’t help laughing when a wide smile spread across Draco's face. Stepping up to him, he ran his hands around Draco's trim waist, admiring the fact that he had managed to keep the black shirt tucked into his trousers despite the fact that he had been working. The amusement he saw in Draco's eyes when he looked up kept the smile on his face.

 

“I didn’t have time to be a real teenager, were you this difficult?”

 

Draco raised an eyebrow at him. “I am never _difficult_ , Potter. Malfoys are above all of that nonsense.”

 

His haughty tone had Harry chuckling again. “Really? So you’re telling me that you never once threw food at the house-elves, or deliberately broke a toy you were given because it was the wrong colour, or even tried to fool your parents into thinking that you absolutely needed a new broom because that was the only way you could get onto the House Quidditch team?”

 

A quick smirk flashed across Draco's face before he spoke. “That is exactly what I’m telling you, because _you_ cannot prove any of it.”

 

Putting a bit of pressure on Draco's hips, Harry dragged him close enough to place a quick kiss on his lips. “I need to find Scorpius and James. Do you think you could run interference for me inside? I wouldn’t want one of those two acting out on the furnishings or anything like that.” He grinned when Draco nodded instead of responding. “Draco? Don’t wear robes today.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Just trust me on this one. Don’t wear robes. It’ll be easier this way.”

 

“Have I ever mentioned that you are incredibly strange?”

 

“Not that I remember, but I’m pretty sure it was indicated in your tone of voice quite a lot over the years.”

 

What Harry didn’t add as Draco shook his head and started off towards the Manor is that the robes covered him up and Harry wanted to be able to show him off just a little. No matter that everyone there would be married and completely uninterested in what Draco looked like, he was one part of Harry’s life that he was incredibly proud of and he would take every opportunity of showing him off to his friends and family.

 

Harry’s mind drifted through some of the things they had planned for his week off from work as he made his way down through the Manor’s grounds. He knew the boys would need to go shopping for new clothes, due to how much they had grown over the past school year, but he didn’t know exactly which day they would put aside for shopping, or even where they would go. The Weasleys always had things planned for the first week of the holidays, but he was fairly certain he wanted to try to start some of their own traditions this year. Of course, Lucius and Narcissa would want to see Scorpius as well, which would be happening soon. He sighed as more thoughts assaulted him. He wanted to go into Muggle London for a trip, but he was unsure whether Draco would want to go with them. They also needed to get all three of the boy’s wedding clothes fitted properly, as well as getting them to rehearse what they would need to do during the ceremony. Lily, of course, wanted to have a proper picnic now that the weather was nice. That meant that they would have to find somewhere quiet that the Muggles couldn’t find, because the boys would want to bring their broomsticks.

 

And with all of that on his plate, he wanted one more thing to be added. Harry wanted one night without any of the children so he could take Draco on a date. Not a ‘go out and grab a quick bite at a pub’ type date, either. He wanted a fancy restaurant, he wanted to wear formal robes or a suit, and he wanted posh waiters who would look at him in envy because of how unbelievably _good_ Draco looked. His mind was just rushing through all the fancy restaurants he knew of in Muggle London when a rustle in a tree nearby caused him to jump. Squinting up into the branches, he could only just make out a crop of blond hair in amongst the leaves.

 

“Scorpius? Why are you up a tree?”

 

Harry thought it a reasonable question, considering he had figured he was much more likely to find one of his boys up there rather than Scorpius. A small rustle preceded a few snapping branches to Harry’s right, causing him to step over to a second tree just before James jumped and landed at his feet.

 

“We were talking.”

 

There was a tiny bit of a defensive tone to James’ voice. He stood before Harry, his arms crossed loosely around his waist and a slightly sullen look on his face.

 

“While you were climbing trees?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Harry sighed. As much as he loved the idea that James was feeling a little more like himself, he would have much preferred him to not have gotten his attitude back before the rest of his personality. Before he could react, however, Scorpius joined them, jumping down from his tree with a small thud.

 

“It’s alright, we weren’t doing anything bad, I swear. I was just asking him about Grimmauld Place, that’s all.”

 

This caught Harry’s attention completely. He knew he should be trying to hide his curiosity over why Scorpius was so fascinated with Grimmauld, but he couldn’t quite keep his face straight enough to hide it completely.

 

“And what is so interesting about a dusty old house? I’ve had everything that had even the slightest bit of Dark magic to it either cleansed or removed, in case that’s what you are so curious about. There’s no more curses and a lot of the older furnishings and original paintings have either been removed or renovated over the years to make them safe.”

 

“Oh, no, it’s alright. I really was just wondering about it because of my family connection to it, I swear.”

 

It struck Harry in that moment just how alike Draco and Scorpius really were; physically if not mentally as well. He could definitely see Astoria’s influence on his personality in his sense of humour and his willingness to show his emotions openly, but this ability to convince people to see things his way was all Draco, Harry was certain. It was a shame for Scorpius, then, that Harry had had all kinds of training to prevent him from being taken in by someone who was trying to convince him to let them have their own way. Harry smiled.

 

“Alright then.” He nodded to let the boys both know that he had supposedly agreed that whatever they were up to was nothing. “Look, we have to be at the Burrow in half an hour, so could you both get up to the house and get ready?”

 

This sudden fascination with Grimmauld that Scorpius had developed was more than a little suspicious and he knew he would have to give the house a once-over before he allowed any of the children back into it. Turning so he could follow James and Scorpius back up the path towards the house, Harry allowed his mind to wander through the possibilities he could be facing. There could be something that he and the Curse Breakers had missed when they had swept the house the first time over. There could be a particular painting Scorp wanted to speak to. There could also be any number of tiny objects that weren’t cursed exactly, but were still more dangerous than a child should have in his possession. Perhaps he could ask Bill about it that afternoon, he considered as he entered the house. When he wasn’t immediately met by screaming children or a harassed Draco vowing to never have contact with children again, he smiled. The other possibility was that Scorpius really was just curious about his heritage and Grimmauld Place was the one house left that held anything to do with the Black family. All he could really do at that point in time was hope.

 

*~*

 

Draco spent the entirety of lunch and part of the afternoon feeling incredibly exposed. He had allowed Harry to talk him into not only not wearing his robes to the lunch at the Burrow, but also exchanging his usual black and white for a pale blue-grey shirt that he rarely wore. It had felt as though the eyes of every single Weasley there were on him during lunch and, now that they had moved out into the orchard at the back of the property for a quick game of Quidditch for the older kids, that feeling was only just starting to subside.

 

Stepping away from Harry for a few minutes, Draco took a deep breath to clear his mind. Scorpius seemed to be getting along with the Weasley children quite well, which Draco was thankful for. He knew that Scorp would have met some of them at Hogwarts, but Draco hadn’t yet taken the time to ask about which of the children he had made friends with other than the ones he had already known. The idea that Scorp was able to make friends much easier than he had ever been able to caused Draco to smile to himself, knowing that his son would have a much easier path through life than he had had. He was just standing there watching the children flying overhead when a small hand tugged on his sleeve.

 

“Is it true?”

 

Draco glanced down to be met by the bright blue eyes of a young boy a few years younger than Scorp. His pale blond hair told Draco that he had to be Bill and Fleur’s youngest. He glanced around to see where the boy’s parents were, but when he couldn’t find them, he knelt down in front of him so they were on eye-level.

 

“Is what true?”

 

The boy’s eyes flicked down to Draco's left forearm before returning to his eyes. “That you were… You know? _With him_.”

 

Draco bit down on his tongue to prevent himself from sighing. He had been expecting to be interrogated by the adults about his time with ‘ _him_ ’, as Louis had so succinctly put it, but not by a child.

 

“Yes, I was,” he replied cautiously. “But that is all far behind me. I regret doing anything that he had commanded me to do, but I had no choice at the time. I have that choice now and I choose to be a better man than I was a teenager.”

 

A thoughtful expression crossed the boy’s face as he processed that information. Draco could almost pinpoint the moment he came to his next decision and had to resist the urge to laugh.

 

“Can I see it?”

 

The words were whispered in an afraid tone that told Draco that showing the boy the scarred remains of his Dark Mark would be a very bad idea. He smiled, but couldn’t prevent himself from unconsciously rubbing his hand along the Mark beneath his sleeve.

 

“There’s nothing left to see, Louis. The Dark magic that was connected to the Marks left when Voldemort was killed at the end of the War.” When all Louis did was stare at him with wide eyes, Draco offered him another smile. “There’s no way he could come back, if that’s what you’re worried about. Your Uncle Harry took care of him twenty years ago and made absolutely certain that there was no way he could manage to come back.”

 

“Are you sure? Really, truly sure?”

 

Draco allowed himself to smile properly at that. “Yes. I have complete confidence in your Uncle Harry and his ability to stop bad people from doing bad things. He has protected all of us for a long time as an Auror as well.”

 

Louis nodded. “I know.”

 

“Do you want to be like him when you grow up?”

 

Louis’ nodding became more vigorous, causing his hair to flop into his eyes. “Yeah, I do. I’ll be an Auror just like Uncle Harry and I’ll stop all the bad guys!”

 

Draco grinned. “Are you sure about that?”

 

“Yeah, of course I am!”

 

“Then why don’t you go tell him?”

 

He watched as Louis took off without another word, heading straight for Harry. Shaking his head, he stood and brushed the grass off his trousers.

 

“You handled that well.”

 

Draco spun around to see Fleur watching him from a few steps away. She would have been just out of his line of sight when he was kneeling, leading him to wonder just how long she had been standing there. He offered her a small nod when she smiled at him.

 

“Children are easy to deal with.”

 

“True, but only for some. And I doubt that many of the former Death Eaters would be able to ‘deal with’ a child asking to see their Mark. Either they would point-blank refuse, or they would try to terrify him. You used the opportunity to turn his thoughts towards something more positive. It’s easy to tell that you have a child of your own.”

 

Draco had absolutely no idea what to say to this, so he merely offered her a polite smile. Fleur seemed to take that as an answer, as she smiled back and turned to watch the Quidditch game.

 

Listening for an indication that she was about to start speaking to him again, Draco found he couldn’t quite enjoy the game. A slight sheen of sweat was beginning to form on his top lip, which he attributed to a combination of the warmer weather and the shot of nerves that were shivering through his stomach. He, of course, knew that she was Bill’s wife and therefore would know that it was he who had let in the Death Eater who had scarred Bill. What he didn’t know was whether she held any form of grudge against him. Hell, he didn’t even know if _Bill_ held a grudge against him, to be honest. It wasn’t like this was something that was discussed in polite conversation.

 

“He has always been fascinated with the War and any who fought in it.”

 

Draco had to stop himself from scoffing. “I didn’t fight. Not really. All I was trying to do was keep both myself and my parents alive. By any means necessary.” He could feel Fleur’s eyes on him, but he kept his own eyes glued to the children flying above them. “I’ve never spoken to anyone outside of my family and friends about what happened during those two years at the end of the War, mostly because my story doesn’t differ that much from others who the press and public are much more interested in.”

 

“He threatened your parent’s lives if you did not comply with what he wanted.”

 

Draco nodded, but still didn’t remove his eyes from the game. “Exactly. It’s a story that has been told over and over by people who have a better public image than I do.”

 

They fell silent for a while after that. Draco watched the game, allowing his eyes to drift over all ten of the players rather than settling on just one. Each of the Weasleys flew, some better than others. Then, of course, there was Teddy, who was older and a much more experienced player than the rest of the children. It was obvious to Draco that he was holding himself back a bit, though. Draco was just relaxing a little when Fleur spoke again.

 

“I believe that the world would be interested in your story.”

 

Draco looked over at her in surprise. “You think I should try to shop a sob story around? Try to improve my social standing by appealing to the public’s softer side?”

 

“No, of course not. But I do believe that telling them all what it was like from your side of the War would help both the current children of the former Death Eaters and help to soften the public’s opinions of those they are currently afraid of.”

 

A shout went up from the back of the house, causing both Draco and Fleur to look over. Arthur appeared to be standing in the doorway, waving for everyone to come back to the house.

 

“Ah, it must be time for tea. I hope you will think on what I have said, Draco. I would be as interested as anyone else to discover what it was like for you to live under that kind of pressure for so long.”

 

With that, she turned and started to make her way back to the house. Draco watched her go, shock rushing through his veins. He had no idea how long he stood and stared, but he knew that the sounds from the game had completely died out before he was dragged out of his thoughts by a hesitant voice.

 

“Draco? You alright?”

 

He smiled properly as he turned to face Harry. The smile faltered just a little when he saw that Harry wasn’t alone, but he held it by keeping his eyes fixed on Harry alone. He could just make out the faces of Hermione and Ron standing a few steps back from Harry, but he couldn’t focus on them.

 

“Of course,” he answered softly, knowing that the quiet tone of voice would force Harry to step closer to him.

 

True to character, Harry moved forward until he was just within arm’s reach. “You’re sure?” Harry let out a breath when Draco grabbed his wrist and dragged him forward a few steps. “You do realise we’re not alone, right?”

 

“I’m not looking to fuck you, Potter,” Draco whispered. He grinned when Harry leant in to catch his words. “Unless being watched is something you would be into, of course.”

 

The shades of red Harry was capable of turning had always held some kind of fascination for Draco, but he knew he couldn’t act on any of the ideas that it caused to spring to mind at that point in time. Instead, he slid his hand down so he was holding Harry’s hand lightly in his own and turned to their audience.

 

“Weasley.” He nodded formally, an action he knew would look ridiculous on anyone else who had just put on a display like he had. “Granger.”

 

“What are you–”

 

Weasley was cut off with a grunt when his wife elbowed him in the ribs. Draco allowed himself to smirk in response.

 

“We should all be getting back inside before Arthur comes looking for us.”

 

Draco watched the two of them go before turning to Harry, who was watching him with an incredulous expression. Raising his eyebrow seemed to loosen Harry’s tongue.

 

“What the hell was that?”

 

Draco's smirk returned as he began to move the two of them off towards the house. “You wanted me to express myself more in public, correct?”

 

“In public, yes. Saying something like that in front of Ron and Hermione, probably not.”

 

“Really?” Draco grinned when Harry huffed out a breath at his surprised tone. “Perhaps you should have made that clear the first time.”

 

“You’re insane.”

 

“That isn’t a nice thing to say.”

 

“You’re going to drag me down into insanity with you.”

 

“At least I won’t be alone, then.”

 

“Draco?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Draco stopped a few steps away from the backdoor of the house so he could raise an eyebrow at Harry in question. “For embarrassing you in front of your friends?”

 

“For being willing to loosen up a little in front of other people. Even if it does mean I’m going to be embarrassed in front of them more often than not. I don’t know what made you change your mind about this, but… I like it.”

 

Leaning in, Draco brushed their lips together softly in response. Even if it was just in front of Weasley and Granger, it did feel as though he had made a bit of a breakthrough over the past day when it came to his aversion to displaying any emotions in public. He knew he would have time to examine the thought when they were back in the Manor, but for the moment, he was more than happy to just let things play out as they would.


	20. Chapter 20

Staring down into the box on the bench before him, Draco frowned. He was absolutely certain that he had bottled twenty vials of Volubilis Potion and placed them securely in the box Sunday night, leaving them to settle in their bottles before he sent them off to the store that had purchased them as regular on Monday. Staring back at him from the box, however, were seventeen bottles. He knew he was the only one who could enter his dungeon workroom without triggering the wards he set every time he left the place, so that meant that he had, for some reason, left a few potions out. Shaking his head, he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

 

“Lost something?”

 

“My sanity, apparently.”

 

Astoria’s light laugh caused a wide smile to spread across Draco's face. It had been a fair while since she had visited him in his workroom and he had found himself missing their conversations. He turned to lean back against the edge of the bench, watching as she walked across the room from the stairs. Instead of heading to the chairs they kept at the back of the room, she walked straight over to him and stood on her toes so she could place a soft kiss on his cheek.

 

“That statement assumes you had any shred of sanity to begin with.” She grinned at him when he rolled his eyes. “Come sit down. I have news.”

 

She turned and set off for the soft chairs at the back of the room, the red dress she was wearing swishing around her ankles. Unable to help himself, Draco ran his eyes up her body, frowning slightly as he took in her strappy black heels, the dress and her jewellery sparkling in the bright candlelight. Confusion flooded through him, but he followed her to the back of the room and settled down on one end of the lounge to wait for an explanation. He watched as she got comfortable, kicking her shoes off and tucking her legs up beneath her. It was unusual for Astoria to go out on a Monday night and it was obvious that that was what she was planning on doing. Draco's mind raced through possible explanations as she smoothed her hand over the nearly invisible wrinkles in the dress, but the only reason he could come up with for her to be going out involved this mystery man she had been seeing. When she took too long to settle herself, Draco cleared his throat.

 

“You look nice tonight. May I ask the occasion?” A bright red blush that almost matched the colour of her dress heated her cheeks, only causing Draco's confusion to increase. “Tori?”

 

It took a while for Astoria to react in any way other than embarrassment, but Draco waited her out. He knew she wouldn’t have come down there without a reason and it was obvious that something was going on. She shifted on her end of the lounge a few times before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

 

“He wants me to meet his parents today. In a nice restaurant in the wizarding side of Florence.” She kept her eyes fixed on the hands that she held clenched in her lap, obviously nervous about what she was admitting to him. “I don’t know… Gods, Dray, I haven’t done this properly since I was a teenager! _You_ are the only man who I have had to really worry about in all that time and it wasn’t like you needed me to worry about you!”

 

“Tori–”

 

Astoria stood and began to pace the room the second Draco reached for her. “What if his parents hate me? What if Scorpius hates him? Why – _why_ – would I do this to myself? I am _thirty-six_ years old! That is way too old to be going on a _date_! I have a child waiting here for me; hell I might as well have four here now! This is one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Why would I ever think that he could be interested in me? He’s so…” She stopped in her pacing and turned to face him, her forehead crinkled in obvious worry. “He’s so kind and gentle and caring and… Gods, Dray, the poor man’s _normal_! How is he ever going to manage to come to terms with this living situation? How is he ever going to be able to accept this?”

 

Draco was on his feet and moving to wrap her in his arms the second she raised her hands to cover her face. An almost overwhelming rush of sympathy for her flooded through him, causing him to begin to mutter comforting words in her ear as he held her to his chest. She had helped him through the awkward early stages of his relationship with Harry, so he knew that this was the very least he could do for her.

 

His mind raced through how he could help her to come to the realisation that whoever this man was, he was obviously interested in her enough to want to continue their relationship. Unfortunately, he knew that just allowing her to voice her worries was the easiest way for her to release some of the tension that was evident in her shoulders now that he was close enough to feel it. He also knew that whoever it was that she had been seeing for the past few months must know who she was and her family situation; it wasn’t like they had had a choice in whether they could hide this from the press at all. Continuing to hold her close, he ran one of his hands between her shoulder blades in a comforting gesture he had seen Harry use with Lily when she was upset. It seemed as though allowing her to just release some of the tension had been the best choice, as he could feel Astoria’s shoulders relaxing after a few minutes and could hear her breathing evening out.

 

“Tori?” He waited until she removed her hands from her face and looked up at him before continuing. “I did need you worrying about me all these years. If it wasn’t for you and the stabilising influence you had over me, I have no idea where I would be today. Whoever this man is that you’ve been seeing, I would place money that he has already taken Scorp into account, as well as the chaos that is our home life. The fact that you care enough about him to be this worried about what he – or his parents for that matter – will think of you is just proof that this time it’s real.”

 

Draco had to grin when she took a slightly shaky breath and offered up a watery-looking smile. He hated to see her upset over anything and the fact that he could bring a smile to her face when she was so worried about something always warmed him.

 

“You really think it won’t matter?”

 

“Tori, anyone who cares for you will be willing to put up with more problems than even _we_ could manage to have in one year.” He smiled properly when she began to laugh. “And if he doesn’t, then I believe I still recall the incantation for the curse that will turn his insides into his outsides.”

 

A small sound that could have been either a cough or a smothered laugh drew Draco's attention to the bottom of the stairs. Harry raised an eyebrow when Draco met his eyes, causing Draco to smirk.

 

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

 

“ _You_ are no longer an Auror.”

 

“That makes no difference whatsoever and you know it.”

 

Draco shrugged. “What Dark curses I may – or may not – still know are none of the Ministry’s concern if I don’t use them on anyone.”

 

“Make that _six_ children.”

 

The disgruntled tone to Astoria’s voice sent a jolt of happiness through Draco, causing him to chuckle. He loosened the grip he had around her shoulders when she ran a hand down his arm and shot him an amused look.

 

“Thank you.” The words were whispered as she stepped back and straightened her hair and clothing and strapped her shoes back on. “Now, Harry. Is he here?”

 

Clasping his hands behind his back, Harry smiled wide before responding. “He is.”

 

Draco frowned when he realised that Harry’s eyes were locked on him rather than Astoria. “Here?”

 

“He’s waiting for her in the formal living room.”

 

The amusement he could clearly hear in Harry’s voice sent annoyance through Draco, but he ignored it for the time being. “Is he indeed?”

 

“Yes, he is. And no, you don’t get to terrify him.” There was a firm tone to Harry’s voice that caused Draco to roll his shoulders as another wave of annoyance rippled through him. “He’s a nice bloke, Draco. She’s scored well.”

 

Caught between a desire to hex the smile from Harry’s face and rush upstairs to interrogate the man Astoria had been seeing, Draco clenched his hands and took a deep breath. “Harry–”

 

“You can meet him next time, Dray, I promise,” Astoria interrupted him. Stepping up to him, she pulled him down until she could place a soft kiss on his forehead. “I love you, you know that?”

 

Pressing his lips together in a firm line to prevent himself from saying everything that was running through his mind, Draco nodded. Astoria’s responding laugh caused him to bite down on his tongue to stop himself from calling her back as she made her way towards the stairs. She reached out to squeeze one of Harry’s hands as she passed and Draco watched as the two of them exchanged a warm look before she took the steps at a rapid pace. Tension raced through him when the door at the top of the stairs closed with a soft click.

 

“She’ll be fine.”

 

Draco's eyes slid shut and his hands clenched by his sides. “How do you know that?”

 

“I don’t.” Draco could have sworn that he almost heard the shrug Harry gave in response. “But it’s not fair that she doesn’t really have a social life outside of you and I. And he really is a nice guy.”

 

Running his hands through his hair, Draco huffed out a breath. When he reopened his eyes, it was to see Harry grinning at him.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“Are you sure you want to know that?”

 

“No, but tell me anyway.”

 

Harry’s grin widened. “Do you remember that Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain who was a few years ahead of us in school? The one who went on to play a few seasons for the Wasps?”

 

Draco's mind went blank. Astoria had fallen for a _Quidditch player_? Clenching and unclenching his hands by his sides, Draco attempted to release some of the tension that was running through him, but discovered that it was impossible. Taking yet another deep breath, he let it out slowly.

 

“Roger Davies.”

 

“Yeah.” Harry nodded and took a few steps towards him, still smiling. “I spoke to him for a few minutes before coming down here. He asked about you and whether this would cause any issues between you and Astoria, but I told him that her dating someone had never bothered you before.” Harry trailed off when Draco let out a disbelieving snort. “Was I wrong?”

 

Huffing out a sigh, Draco shifted his weight from foot to foot. “No.”

 

“But?”

 

“The man’s an imbecile, Harry! Even you have to admit that!”

 

“He seemed like a really nice, stable person to me.”

 

Finally giving up on trying to release the tension in him, Draco stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers and hung his head. “He’s not good enough for her.”

 

It only took Harry a few seconds to reach Draco and hook his fingers through his belt loops. “No one ever will be. You know that.”

 

Draco managed to resist giving in to the tugging of Harry’s fingers for only a few seconds before leaning forward to allow Harry to draw him into an embrace. “I know.”

 

Harry’s deep responding chuckle vibrated through Draco's chest. “Then maybe we should give this one a chance?”

 

“Don’t push it, Potter.”

 

Standing there with Harry’s arms wrapped around him, Draco set his mind to trying to force himself to relax a little. Thankfully, Harry seemed to sense that all he needed was a little time, as he stayed quiet and merely played with the hair at the nape of Draco's neck while he waited. Draco figured they must have been standing there for a few minutes before Harry spoke, his voice low and almost hesitant.

 

“Draco?”

 

“I don’t want to see her hurt.”

 

“Neither do I. I’m sure she felt the same about you when we first got together.”

 

Draco smiled as he pulled back out of the embrace. “She threatened to murder you nearly every time my mood changed.”

 

Harry’s responding grin sent a shot of warmth through Draco's stomach. “She probably would have succeeded as well.”

 

Putting a few paces between them, Draco ran his hands through is hair again, pulling on it a little in an attempt to release some of the remaining tension. “She’ll be alright?”

 

Harry nodded, still smiling. “Yeah, she really will.”

 

Letting out a whoosh of breath, Draco gave his hair one last tug before dropping his hands. “Alright… Alright.” He turned towards the bench, then back to Harry. “How is everything upstairs? Do you need a break yet?”

 

Harry shook his head. “Do you really think I’ll let you up there with that lot right after you’ve spent the past few minutes threatening to murder someone?” He stepped up and ran a hand though Draco's hair, obviously smoothing it out where Draco had mussed it. “We’re fine. You stay here and think up ways to ruin Roger’s life if he so much as forgets to tip the waiter enough and embarrasses Tori tonight.”

 

Draco crossed his arms across his chest as he watched Harry moving off towards the stairs. “You know, that condescending tone is likely to get you hexed one day, Potter.”

 

“I know,” Harry called over his shoulder just before he exited the workroom.

 

Draco shook his head. Between the two of them, he was absolutely certain that Harry and Astoria would be the death of him. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly before turning his attention back to the bench with the box of potions still sitting on it. It looked like this order was going to be late this week, which meant that he would have to send off an owl to the store apologising and offering 10% off their next purchase. Lacing his fingers together, he pushed them outwards, cracking his knuckles before getting down to the work of replacing the missing vials. His mind raced through what could have happened to the potions before he pushed the thoughts aside and relaxed into the comfortable routine of brewing. He could worry about that later.


	21. Chapter 21

A loud shriek from a bird just outside the window of the Manor’s kitchen startled Harry out of the stupor the morning newspaper had lulled him into on Tuesday. Since the boys had returned from Hogwarts, Harry had taken to rising a little earlier than he was used to in order to have some time alone in the mornings to just relax and read the sports section of the paper. It was quite refreshing to be able to just sit there in the quiet of the morning with no noises around other than the rustle of his newspaper and the crunch of his toast as he slowly munched on it, so it was with some reluctance that he listened to footsteps echoing through the house towards him. He bit back a sigh as the door to the kitchen was pushed open, preparing himself for one or more of the children to burst through.

 

“Good morning, Harry.”

 

Harry’s head whipped towards the door the second he heard Astoria’s voice. Standing in the doorway, she had her arms wrapped around herself and a somewhat sheepish smile on her face. Harry grinned, but resisted the urge to rib her about her obvious embarrassment. Instead, he gestured to the chair opposite to him and waved his wand, sending the teapot floating over towards her.

 

“Morning. How are you?”

 

Astoria took a while to answer, getting comfortable in the chair, adjusting her clothing and pouring herself some tea. When she finally looked up to meet his eyes, however, she was smiling wide.

 

“I’m quite well, thank you.”

 

She fell silent again, sipping delicately at her tea. Harry watched for a few seconds before dropping his gaze back to his paper, assuming that it was none of business what she and Roger had gotten up to the night before, despite his raging curiosity. He had gotten through half of a story about the Chudley Cannons’ chances at ending up bottom yet again before a light laugh dragged his attention back to Astoria. His eyebrows shot into his hairline, but she just waved a hand at him, still laughing.

 

“You and Draco are _so_ different,” she gasped after a few seconds. “Draco's such a gossip that by this point I would have expected to be being interrogated on every single little thing that happened last night. You, however, are just sitting there looking like my personal life is none of your business.”

 

Harry raised a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Your personal life _isn’t_ any of my business.”

 

Astoria just shook her head and shot him an affectionate look that he had seen her gift Draco with on multiple occasions before. Pushing her chair back, she stepped around the table to place a hand on Harry’s shoulder.

 

“If it wasn’t clear to me before, then that statement would have just clarified why the two of you are so good together.” Bending slightly, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead before pulling back. “Don’t ever be afraid to ask me anything. I trust you with the safety of both my son and my overly-nosy ex-husband, so a little gossip isn’t going to hurt anything.”

 

“Oh…” Harry sat there for a few seconds with what he had to assume was a completely stunned look on his face when Astoria stepped back to her chair. “I, er... Thank you.”

 

The smirk he received in response was so reminiscent of Scorpius that he had to shake his head in wonder. Still, he kept quiet for a few more seconds rather than just barge in with questions. He was unused to gossiping about something like this; he figured it came from the fact that his best friends had married each other. That had meant that he _really_ didn’t want information about what was happening in either of their sex lives and had caused him to miss this particular part of being an adult. When his mind couldn’t come up with any questions he felt were suitable to ask, he decided to just stick with the safer ones that occurred to him.

 

“How was it? Will I need to be bribing someone to get Draco out of Azkaban for cursing him?”

 

It seemed as though that was really all she had wanted, as in the next second, Harry was nearly overwhelmed by a rush of words that he had no hope of being able to keep track of. Astoria described everything from what Roger and his parents had been wearing, to the floral arrangements on the tables of the restaurant, to how rude the waiters were. Harry was attempting to not allow himself to tune the words out when he heard the sound of the door opening and closing softly behind him. He turned in his chair to see Draco smiling at them from the doorway. He wasn’t certain whether he shot Draco a look that pleaded to be rescued, but it must have been obvious that he was in over his head with this one somehow. Draco stepped forward, tilted Harry’s chair back just enough so his head fell backwards naturally and, with an extremely polite _excuse us_ to Astoria, he kissed him.

 

Harry was aware that Astoria had fallen silent, but beyond that, all he could focus on was the strong scent of Draco's aftershave. Upside down as he was, it was rather difficult to manage to kiss back properly, but it seemed to him that he had managed to do something right, as Draco let out a soft sigh as he broke the kiss.

 

“Good morning.”

 

Harry hummed in response, causing Draco to chuckle. Draco moved quickly around the kitchen, making himself tea before settling down on one of the spare chairs at the table. Harry’s eyes didn’t leave him until he was seated, taking in his white shirt tucked neatly into his black trousers. When Draco finally seated himself, Harry dragged his eyes away only to find Astoria smirking at him. He cleared his throat self-consciously before dropping his gaze to the table. Draco placed his tea down after a few seconds and laced his fingers together before him on the tabletop. Instead of beginning the interrogation of Astoria that Harry knew was coming, however, Draco turned to face Harry first.

 

“Did you know the boys are already awake and conspiring together outside?”

 

Harry blinked. This was about as far from what he had been expecting Draco to lead off with that it took a few seconds for the information to sink in.

 

“Outside? Already? It’s only…” He trailed off when he glanced up to look at the clock ticking above the sink. “Half eight. Damn it.”

 

Harry shoved his chair backwards, folded the paper and placed it to the side of the table, ready to collect and finish later on. He could feel two sets of eyes on him, watching as he moved over to the sink to deposit his plate and teacup. Turning back to the table, he automatically brushed his hands over his thighs, sweeping the crumbs from his fingers. The move earned him a roll of Draco's eyes. Instead of reacting to that, however, he turned to face Astoria.

 

“Good luck. I have a feeling you’ll need it.”

 

Astoria merely laughed and waved a hand at him as he headed towards the backdoor. Draco didn’t even bother waiting until he was out the door before beginning his interrogation.

 

“How severely am I allowed to curse him?”

 

“Not at all,” Harry called through the door before he set off down the path.

 

Draco yelled something back at him, but by that time, Harry was too far away to hear whatever it was. A huge grin stretched across his face as he made his way down through the Manor’s grounds. It was obvious that Draco's mention of the boys already being up was his way of basically telling Harry to bugger off so he could have some time alone with Astoria. The idea that Draco was more than willing to be so transparent in front of him widened Harry’s smile even further as he walked along the path that would lead him down past the greenhouses and towards the peacock enclosure and the open area that the boys had taken to playing pickup games of Quidditch on.

 

It occurred to Harry that he probably should have asked Draco exactly where the boys were as he rounded the corner. The field was completely empty, as was the peacock enclosure. Harry spun in a circle, a frown creasing his forehead as he tried to remember where else he had seen all three of the boys together. He wandered slowly down the path, listening for anything that would indicate the presence of three normally rather lively boys.

 

The path led down through the Manor’s immaculately manicured grounds and Harry couldn’t help shaking his head in wonder. Spread out before him was a lawn that would have had his Aunt Petunia turning pea green with envy: lush green grass covered the ground in a slight downward slope, leading towards a small pond; on one side of the lawn stood a series of neatly trimmed topiaries, while the opposite side was edged with rose bushes in differing shades of red, pink and white. A cobblestone path led down the very middle, only broken in the dead centre of the lawn by a large white gazebo. Harry had, of course, seen it all before, but it never ceased to amaze him. He set off down the cobblestone path in search of the boys, but pulled up short when the sound of James’ voice reached him.

 

“…but the portrait said that it had to be _his_ voice, not someone else’s.”

 

Harry’s insides froze. It took him a few seconds to realise that, in this case, ‘his’ couldn’t possibly be referring to Voldemort. He shook his head and immediately moved off to the side of the path, putting himself out of the line of sight of anyone who may have happened to glance out the doorway of the gazebo. It had been quite a while since any kind of memory of his past had intruded like that and it had left him slightly shaky, but he attempted to push it aside as best as he could. Focussing back on the gazebo, a sharp sense of thankfulness to whoever had designed it rushed through him when he examined it properly and realised that two sides of it were completely enclosed. He had to assume that it was designed that way to hide whoever was inside rather than whoever was outside, but he figured he would take his luck as it came to him. Crouching down so he could move up to the side of the gazebo, he held his breath as his shoes crunched on some loose stones.

 

“Did you hear something?”

 

“It’s probably just one of those fucking peacocks.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened at Scorpius’ use of that kind of language, but he stayed still, wanting to find out exactly what the two of them were up to. Still moving in a crouch, he pressed his back up against the wall of the gazebo and settled in to listen to whatever it was that the two boys had been speaking to a portrait about.

 

“Yeah, probably.” Footsteps thudded across the wooden floor, followed shortly by a thump as James obviously threw himself down onto the seat inside. “Have you told Al?”

 

“He knows. It was his suggestion to nick those potions from Dad.”

 

“You don’t think Draco knows it was you?”

 

Scorpius scoffed. “Please. He’s so wrapped up in _your_ Dad that he doesn’t see hardly anything anymore. I’d be surprised to learn that he even realised they were missing in the first place.”

 

Harry made a mental note to ask Draco about any missing potions when he got back to the house. His heart was beginning to beat a little too rapidly as he listened and he had to take a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. Frowning, he cocked his head to the side in an attempt to catch everything James and Scorpius were saying.

 

“So Al was saying he might try and convince Lily to suggest going to Grimmauld as well.”

 

“You don’t think that would be going too far? All four of us asking whether we will be going back there?”

 

“Don’t underestimate Lily’s ability to convince an adult to do what she wants. Being the precious baby of the family as well as the only girl apparently has its advantages.”

 

There was a tiny touch of resentment to James’ voice, but nothing more than Harry had heard from any of his three children before when they were complaining that one of them gets preferential treatment over the others. What he was more concerned about was the fact that there appeared to be something sitting in Grimmauld that the boys had found out about from a portrait that required a certain person’s voice to… This part drew Harry up short. He had come in at just the wrong part of the conversation to discover exactly why the boys thought they needed a particular person’s voice. His fingers twitched with nerves as the silence in the gazebo went on slightly too long for his liking. He almost let out a sigh of relief when Scorpius spoke again.

 

“You don’t think that whatever’s in there will be dangerous, do you?”

 

“Well…” James paused, causing Harry’s heart to thump against his ribcage. “The portrait didn’t say exactly what was in it, just that we couldn’t open it without the voice recognition thing. Do you really think you can alter them?”

 

“Of course I can!” The indignant exclamation held so much insult to it that Harry was hard-pressed to not laugh. “I wouldn’t have said I could if I didn’t think I could.”

 

“Alright, alright, calm down! Look, we’ve got your grandparents coming over tonight, right? So that means that Al might be able to corner Lily and convince her to try asking whether we could go to Grimmauld once during the holidays. None of the adults will be paying all that much attention to us three; it’ll all be about you.”

 

“Lucky me.”

 

“Well, lucky _us_ actually.”

 

There was a thump from inside the gazebo right near Harry’s head, causing him to jump. He came out of his crouch and moved in the opposite direction to the thump, around towards the back of the gazebo. The sound of two sets of footsteps descending the stairs at the other end of the gazebo reached his ears and he huffed out a relieved sigh. For a second there, he had thought that maybe one of the boys had managed to catch a glimpse of him accidentally through a hole in the wall, or something equally as unlucky. He stayed at the back of the gazebo just in case one of them decided to glance behind them. This conversation had given him a lot to think over, but one thing was absolutely certain: he and Draco had to go through Grimmauld with a fine toothed comb to try to discover exactly what it was the three of them were after.

 

*~*

 

Draco's attention had been fixed directly on Harry for what felt like hours. He smiled and managed to respond appropriately to whatever it was Astoria’s Mother was speaking to him about, but his eyes continued to be drawn back to where Harry stood across the room with Narcissa. There had been something strange about Harry all day, but with the children distracting him and then the arrival of both his and Astoria’s parents just after lunch, Draco hadn’t been able to find the time to ask what was wrong.

 

“…but it turned out that it was just the neighbour’s Crup, Banjo!”

 

Draco forced a laugh as he caught the end of Caroline Greengrass’ story. Over the years, he had developed a ‘listening attentively’ expression, thanks to her repetition of stories about Banjo the Crup. She only ever told these stories when she had had a few too many glasses of champagne, but that had turned out to be often enough over the years of his marriage to Astoria to help him to perfect the expression. That expression had actually come in quite handy in many various situations over the years he had known Caroline, but Draco hated to think that he actually owed Banjo the Crup anything. He smiled wide and quietly offered to refill her glass of champagne in a rather desperate attempt to get away before she began another story.

 

“Oh, thank you, dear. You know, I don’t know _why_ Astoria let you go, I really don’t. Such a nice, charming boy.”

 

Draco's smile became fixed as he turned and made his escape over to the sideboard. There was absolutely no chance in hell that he was explaining his sexuality to Caroline when she was in this condition, but perhaps he wouldn’t have to. He shot Astoria what he hoped was a smile that was as charming as Caroline had claimed he was. She rolled her eyes at him, but slowly began to weave her way through the informal living room, dodging around lounge chairs and people.

 

“That expression could either mean ‘save me’ or ‘kill me’ when it comes from someone who has just been speaking to my Mother.”

 

Draco huffed out a chuckle as he turned and presented Astoria with the glass of champagne he had taken from Caroline. “The former in this case, thankfully. Do you think you could rescue me from the stories about Banjo? Please?”

 

He watched as Astoria’s eyes narrowed. It was a bit of a struggle for Draco to not hold his breath in anticipation as Astoria studied him, but he managed it.

 

“You will tell me what’s got you so worried later on, right?”

 

A sense of relief washed through Draco as he handed the glass over with a grateful smile. “Of course I will, if you insist on it.”

 

“You’re dumping my Mother on me; of course I’m going to insist!”

 

With that, she swatted at him until he moved out of her way so she could make her way over to Caroline. Draco didn’t even wait to watch her go, he just turned and swept immediately over to where Harry stood in the corner of the room, speaking to Narcissa in a low tone.

 

“Unfortunately that is all the information I can give you on Grimmauld Place. Our two sides of the family had split a little by the time I was born and I never really spent that much time in the actual house itself. My Cousin Sirius was your Godfather, I believe?”

 

Draco's muscles tensed as he came up behind Harry. What motive his Mother could possibly have for grilling Harry about Grimmauld, he had no idea, but he would put a stop to it if he could. Resting a hand lightly on the small of Harry’s back grabbed his attention and Draco was gratified to see a warm smile spread across Harry’s face when he turned to face him. Harry leant back slightly, just enough so that his shoulder rested against Draco's when he stood still.

 

“Yes, he was,” Harry answered Narcissa when he turned back. “He left me the house in his will. The magical contract connected with the house ensured that the house would be able to be passed out of the Black family as long as it was willed by the last rightful owner. I haven’t used it much over the years, to be honest. All I really did was clean it out as much as possible, then move in once Ginny and I decided to divorce.”

 

Draco almost snorted in amusement at Harry’s choice of words. He opened his mouth to ask Harry what was going on, but Narcissa got in before him.

 

“I would assume that you don’t know much about the history of the place, then. It has actually been in our family for many generations before Sirius inherited it on his Mother’s death.”

 

“Well, no, I don’t. But that’s why I came to you tonight with these questions. I hoped that there wasn’t anything in the house that a team of Curse Breakers would have missed on a thorough sweep of the house. Do you know if there’s anything dangerous in there that could be overlooked, or that doesn’t give off Dark magic but could be dangerous anyway?”

 

Draco's hand on Harry’s back clenched, scrunching the shirt he wore in his hand. It caused Harry to turn and wrap his arm around Draco's waist, pulling him close to his side.

 

“It’s alright, nothing’s happened.”

 

There was a reassuring tone to Harry’s voice, but it did nothing to prevent Draco's mind from skipping straight to a myriad of situations where Harry would need to know about Dark objects that could be left in Grimmauld. Unfortunately for him, most of those situations starred their children. His attention was forcibly dragged to his Mother when she answered Harry’s question.

 

“Nothing springs immediately to mind, I’m sorry. Is there anything in particular you are thinking of?”

 

“No, I just… I don’t want to allow the children to run free around a house that we may have missed something dangerous in. I had Bill Weasley and a team of Curse Breakers sweep the house after the War and we think we got absolutely everything that could be even the slightest bit dangerous, but I just need to make totally certain.”

 

“Perfectly understandable, I assure you. You wouldn’t believe how cautious Lucius was with Draco when he was a toddler and began getting into all the drawers inside the Manor.”

 

Both Draco and Harry nodded to Narcissa when she excused herself. Draco shook his head as he caught sight of the fond smile his Mother was shooting his Father; it was still quite strange to see the two of them being so open in front of Harry. He pushed those thoughts aside, however, when Harry’s grip around his waist tightened a little.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Harry smiled. “I caught Jamie and Scorp talking about how they had to get into Grimmauld because a portrait told them about something that could only be opened using ‘ _his_ voice’.”

 

The quotations were clearly stated in Harry’s tone, but that wasn’t what Draco focussed on. “Did you confront them about it?”

 

“And give them reason to stop talking about it so openly? No, I let them think that they’re getting away with whatever it is they’re planning. Are you missing some potions, by the way?”

 

“Potions?” Draco frowned. “The only ones that come to mind are three vials of Volubilis Potion, but that can’t be…” He trailed off as what Harry had said sank in. “Volubilis Potion changes your voice. It’s generally used in prank potions from places like Zonko’s.”

 

“Is it possible that it could change your voice to imitate a certain person?”

 

“Not without significant altering.”

 

Harry nodded slowly. “Do you think Scorp is clever enough to be able to pull that off?”

 

Draco drew his bottom lip in between his teeth as he considered he question. “I… I am honestly unsure. He is an incredibly intelligent child, for twelve years old. However, altering an already made potion is a highly advanced and complicated thing to do. I doubt that it is within his capabilities, but I wouldn’t ever rule it out completely, just in case.”

 

Draco kept his eyes fixed on Harry’s face, watching his expressions change rapidly. When it seemed that he had come to a conclusion about something, Harry looked up to meet Draco's eyes.

 

“We’ll have to tell Astoria. Once both sets of your parents have left tonight, we’ll have to sit down and try to work out what we’re going to do about this. If they have been told about something dangerous that is still in Grimmauld somewhere, then we can’t allow them to have access to the house until we are certain that there’s nothing there that can injure any of them.”

 

Draco let out a soft sigh when Harry fell silent. “Two and a half weeks before the Gods-be-damned wedding and it appears that three of our children are attempting to unearth centuries old curses. Wonderful.” He frowned when Harry grinned at him. “What is so amusing?”

 

Harry merely shrugged in response and tugged Draco a little closer to him. Standing there in the living room of the Manor with Harry in his arms usually had warmth pooling in Draco's chest, but this time all he could feel was nervous.

 

“Harry?”

 

“It’ll be fine, Dray. We won’t let them hurt themselves or anyone else.”

 

Draco nodded slowly. He wasn’t certain whether the confidence he could hear in Harry’s voice was real or feigned, but he allowed himself to relax just a little. No matter what their children were up to, he knew that Harry was correct: they would do everything they could to prevent them from injuring themselves.


	22. Chapter 22

“It has, of course, been wonderful to see you again, Caroline. Give my very best to Banjo.”

 

Harry almost snorted a laugh at the extremely polite tone to Draco's voice. If he hadn’t been able to seen him, then he would have assumed that Draco was speaking to a Ministry member, not Astoria’s drunken Mother. After bidding a farewell to Terrance – Astoria’s Father – Harry stepped up behind Draco and placed a hand lightly on the small of his back.

 

“Mrs. Greengrass. It’s been a pleasure.”

 

“Oh, Mr. Potter,” she tittered. “What a charming young man you are. Are you, by any chance, available? My daughter has been silly enough to let Draco here get away from her.”

 

Harry grinned as he bowed over Caroline’s hand to place a soft kiss on the back of her glove. “I’m unsure whether Draco would be too happy with me dating his ex-wife. I _am_ sure, however, that she will find someone amazing who treats her exactly how she deserves.”

 

Draco's arm circled possessively around Harry’s waist the second Caroline and Terrance stepped through the floo. Automatically following the pressure of the fingers digging into his hip, Harry turned so he was pressed up against Draco's chest. He wrapped his arms around Draco's shoulders and leant in just close enough so that their lips brushed together lightly when he spoke.

 

“She seems like a very nice lady.”

 

“Mmm.” Draco pulled back a little so he could drop his gaze to Harry’s lips. “Harry…”

 

“I love you.”

 

He grinned when Draco's eyes snapped back up to meet his own. It had taken him a long time, but the signs of Draco needing a little bit of reassurance were now much clearer to him: a touch when he would usually hold himself back, a particular strange tone to his voice, and even unusual silence when they were around others were all signs that Harry had picked up on over the past ten months. He knew it was strange of him to find this touch of insecurity in Draco endearing, but he often found his chest flooded with warmth whenever he realised what it was that Draco was hinting at. Leaning forward again, he touched their lips together softly.

 

Draco let out a small hum that vibrated through Harry’s lips and had him smiling as Draco deepened the kiss. The warm press of Draco's tongue against his lips had Harry opening immediately. Draco tasted of the expensive Firewhisky he seemed to favour when around his Father and it – combined with the heady mixture of Draco's natural scent and his faded aftershave – had warmth spreading rapidly through Harry’s limbs. Sliding one hand upwards, he traced his fingers through the hair at the base of Draco's neck, enjoying the feeling of the soft strands slipping between them. Harry was just adjusting his stance so he could get a little closer when an embarrassed cough from the doorway dragged him back to reality. He broke the kiss with a small gasp.

 

“Sorry, but I figured I’d have to interrupt the two of you if I was going to get any information tonight.”

 

Harry both felt and heard the deep breath Draco took in and held for a few seconds before releasing it. Opening his eyes showed him that Draco was obviously fighting against a blush and, in the full knowledge that he was most likely going to pay for this later on, he brushed his fingers lightly over Draco's cheekbone. Draco's eyes immediately opened to fix Harry with a slightly glassy look.

 

“You and only you.”

 

The whispered words had the exact effect that Harry had expected them to: Draco lost his fight against the blush, which turned him a bright red from his chest to his hairline. He couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across his face as he stepped away.

 

“Bastard.”

 

“Damn right.”

 

Leaving Draco to sort through his reactions to his words on his own, he made his way swiftly over to the doorway where Astoria waited for them. She shook her head at him when he grinned at her.

 

“Do I even _want_ to know what it was you said to make him turn that colour?”

 

Chuckling as he followed Astoria from the formal living room where they had bid goodbye to both sets of parents towards a small sitting room, Harry shook his head. “That would depend, I would assume. Are you sure even _you_ are that interested in that kind of gossip? I mean, I know Draco tells you a lot, but…” He allowed the sentence to trail off when Astoria glanced back over her shoulder, her eyes narrowed in a way that told him she wouldn’t buy into the story he was trying to sell her. He sighed. “I told him I loved him. Am I really still that transparent?”

 

“No, actually. I honestly had no idea what it was that you had said, but I knew it couldn’t have been too dirty because _that_ is something that definitely doesn’t make Draco blush.”

 

Astoria paused as they entered the room so she could cast the spell to light the candles around the room. Harry had only been into this room once or twice before, as it tended to be more Astoria’s domain rather than a ‘public’ room. He couldn’t help smiling as he took in the dark wood furnishings highlighted by the occasional splash of green: the room looked just as he would imagine a room decorated by Astoria would look. The lounge suite sitting before the fire looked incredibly soft and inviting and he took a few steps towards it before shooting Astoria a questioning glance.

 

“Go right ahead and make yourself at home,” she called to him from over by the door. “Draco might need some time by himself.”

 

Harry grinned as he settled himself down on the end of the lounge. “It really is easy to embarrass him, even if I’m not trying to.”

 

“He’s always been that way.”

 

Turning to watch as Astoria claimed the lounge chair closest to the fire and tucked her legs up beneath her, Harry found he couldn’t help indulging the sharp shot of curiosity that jolted through him. “He has?”

 

“As long as I’ve known him, yes.” A fond smile spread across her face as she stared down at the green hearthrug shot through with streaks of brown and black. “I mean, you’ve experienced the overprotective side of him firsthand, but it’s rare that anyone has the kind of power over his emotions that you’ve gained. I can do the same to some extent, but I’ve never seen him react so easily to someone as he does to you.” Her eyes crinkled at the corners as she looked up and shot him a grin. “It’s actually been quite amusing to watch the changes in him over the months.”

 

“Has it indeed?” Draco's boot heels clacked on the wooden floor as he made his way over to claim the seat right beside Harry on the lounge. “I am _ever_ so pleased that my life has provided you with some obviously much-needed comedy relief.”

 

Harry’s shoulder muscles tensed at Draco's sarcasm and he reached automatically to place a placating hand on Draco's forearm. He hadn’t meant to cause trouble between the two of them by questioning Astoria about Draco and he wouldn’t allow it to go any further if he could help it.

 

“Draco–”

 

“It’s alright Harry; he’s being an arse.”

 

Sitting there before the fire, Harry flicked his gaze between the two of them. Astoria appeared quite relaxed, despite Draco's words, but Draco was sitting stiffly beside him, his eyes fixed on Astoria.

 

“Draco?” It took a little while, but eventually Harry was able to detect a slight upturning of Draco's lips. Taking a deep breath, he released Draco's forearm before huffing the breath out in an impatient sigh. “You rank bastard!”

 

Astoria’s light laugh combined with Draco's deeper chuckle as Harry threw himself back against the lounge cushions in frustration with both Draco and his own inability to read him straightaway. Draco immediately relaxed his stiff shoulders and glanced over with a smirk firmly in place.

 

“ _Damn right._ ”

 

The whispered words caused an unwilling smile to break on Harry’s face. He raised his hands in defeat.

 

“Alright, alright, I give. I’m sorry.” The look Draco gifted him with as he relaxed back against the lounge caused warmth to pool in Harry’s stomach, but he pushed the thoughts that came along with it to the side for the time being. Stretching his arm along the back of the lounge behind Draco's head, he sighed. “So.”

 

“So.” Astoria managed to make the word sound as though she was agreeing with something. She nodded slowly. “So… What’s wrong?”

 

Harry glanced over to Draco. All traces of amusement had left his face and his eyes were closed. The candlelight gave Harry a good view of the small bags that had formed beneath Draco's eyes, although whether they were due to the boy’s returning from Hogwarts or just Draco's normal levels of stress, he had no idea. He shook his head.

 

“The boys are planning something, but we don’t know what.”

 

Astoria nodded along slowly as Harry explained, in detail, exactly what he had heard the boys talking about earlier that day. Draco chimed in with any extra information he had gathered just by watching them, as well as every detail he had on the missing potions, although he still kept his eyes closed.

 

“What about Lily?”

 

Harry shook his head. “It sounds like Al is going to try to convince her that they need to go to Grimmauld, but she hasn’t said anything to me about it yet. Draco?”

 

“Nor to me.”

 

Silence surrounded them when Draco didn’t elaborate. Harry allowed his focus to drift aimlessly as he mentally ran through all the possibilities of exactly what the boys could be looking for. When it became obvious that there were simply too many options that involved much more danger than Harry would ever allow his children to be subjected to willingly, he switched to trying to work out just which portrait they could have been speaking to. There couldn’t logically be all that many at Hogwarts who knew the intricacies of Grimmauld Place, so at least that part may be easy for him to work out.

 

_Dumbledore, Snape, Phineas Nigellus Black… Who else?_ He knew that there were bound to be photographs of those who had died during the War around the school, but he also knew that the only things infused with the person’s personality were actual portraits, so he could rule those out. _Could one of Sirius’ ancestors have had a portrait commissioned and hung somewhere in Hogwarts? Could this be older than our detecting methods can reach?_ He jumped when Draco cleared his throat.

 

“So when are we going to confront them with this?”

 

Harry frowned. “Confront them?”

 

“Yes.” Draco sat up and turned on the lounge to pin Harry with a stern look. “I absolutely refuse to allow this to continue happening. What if they actually manage to hurt themselves?”

 

Unable to help it, Harry scrunched his nose up when reluctance flittered through him. “If we confront them, we may never find out what this thing is, or where.”

 

“If we don’t, then they may manage to release whatever it is they’re after. It might not be a curse; it could be something that has longer-reaching consequences than a curse.”

 

“What?” Harry scoffed. “You think Voldemort has another Horcrux hidden in the house somewhere? You don’t think I would have sensed that long before now?”

 

“Well what else could there be in a house as ancient as that one? There’s curses, there’s objects that _could_ be cursed and–”

 

“It could be harmless.”

 

Draco almost stuttered to a stop at the sound of Astoria’s quiet suggestion. They both turned to look at her with what Harry had to assume were equal looks of shock.

 

“Excuse me?” There was no fire to Draco's tone, which Harry was thankful for. “‘Harmless’?”

 

“Yes, harmless.” Astoria nodded, her voice taking on a stronger tone. “None of our boys have ever been in the kind of trouble the two of you are fearing that they are trying to get into now. What if the portrait they have been speaking to just left something in the house that it wants found and brought to light?”

 

“You mean like a _curse_?”

 

“No, you stubborn…” Astoria huffed out a loud sigh and shot Draco a glare. “ _Listen_ to me; I know it’s difficult for you, but just listen. That house has been in your family for generations. It has been passed from eldest child to eldest child for so long that there must have been some kind of dispute over the succession at some point. Maybe there was a disgruntled younger brother, or a disinherited heir who left something in the attic, or buried something in the yard that they want back. Something that they believe could possibly mean something to the current owner, or to a family member. Hell, for all we know, there could be all kinds of treasure buried in the foundations that some paranoid Black family member didn’t want his greedy children getting their hands on. My point is that these old houses haven’t been properly searched with modern methods. Ever. There could be literally anything in that house and we would never know about it.”

 

“Not unless we discover what it is that the kids are after.” Harry’s eyes widened when Draco turned a glare on him. “What? She’s making sense!”

 

Draco shook his head. “Neither of you are making sense. Allowing the boys to just go along with what they’re planning is stupid and dangerous.”

 

“We’ll be keeping a close eye on them, Draco. I swear I wouldn’t ever allow any of them to actually hurt themselves with this.”

 

Shaking his head in what appeared to be wonder, Draco turned back to face Astoria. “Tori? Do you agree with him?” He leant forward and pinched the bridge of his nose when Astoria shot him a helpless look. “I cannot believe this.”

 

“I’m sorry, Dray, but Harry knows what he’s doing when it comes to Dark curses.”

 

“Aurors catch Dark _wizards_ , not _curses_ ,” Draco practically snarled. “They aren’t even teenagers yet.”

 

“I can track them the same way the Trace tracks underage magic. There’s wards and charms that are only known to the senior Aurors that are undetectable; all I would need to do is get special permission from Kingsley.”

 

Instead of responding straight away, Draco stood and straightened his robes. “As it is obvious that the two of you have decided what to do already, please feel free to continue discussing this without me. I would appreciate it, however, if you would give me sufficient warning if you decide to actually act on anything.”

 

With that, he turned and stormed out of the room, his robes flapping behind him. Harry let out a sigh and threw himself back against the lounge in frustration.

 

“You should probably give him a few minutes to calm down this time…”

 

“Not this time.”

 

Determination to have this out with Draco flooded through Harry’s veins, sending a jolt of adrenalin coursing through him. Standing, Harry didn’t even bother to chase after Draco. He twisted on the spot, aiming for the small entry room to their suite.

 

*~*

 

Draco threw the door to the suite back against the wall, exorcizing some of his anger on the wood. His hands clenched; one by his side, the other around the wand he held. He didn’t recall when he had removed his wand from the holster up his sleeve, but he found himself quite glad that he had. With a swipe of his hand, all the bottles on the sideboard went crashing to the floor. A second swipe and the velvet curtains fell from their hangings. He was about to wave his wand towards the furniture next but a strong grip on his wrist prevented him from moving.

 

“Your furniture shouldn’t have to endure what you really want to be doing to me.”

 

Shoving Harry’s hand away from him, Draco stepped towards the lounge, putting some space between them but not turning yet. “Fuck off, Potter.”

 

A small flick of his wrist sent the lounge splintering to the floor, its stuffing spilling out in all directions. When a soft sigh was Harry’s only reaction, Draco continued, gaining a small amount of satisfaction from each little piece of destruction he inflicted on the room. The two lounge chairs were his next victims, followed swiftly by the cooler that held the rest of the alcohol. He had just turned towards the fireplace, intending to repeat the destruction on the mantelpiece above when Harry’s hand closed around his wrist again.

 

“That’s enough.”

 

Despite the satisfaction he had gained from this childish display of temper, it appeared to not have had any effect whatsoever on the levels of rage coursing through his veins. His muscles tensed as his adrenalin spiked. Spinning around to face Harry, Draco twisted his hand, breaking the grip Harry had on him.

 

“‘Enough’? You’d prefer if I took this anger out on the person who caused it?” He stepped forward, backing Harry up towards the wall. “The person who wants me to allow my son to endanger himself just so he can discover something that is better off buried where it is? The person who was supposed to have my back on important decisions like this one, but is now siding with _Astoria_ over me?”

 

Harry’s back hit the wall with a soft thump. Draco wasted no time in slamming his hand palm first onto the wall beside his head and leaning in close enough that he could see himself reflected in Harry’s glasses.

 

“You let me down.”

 

The jolt of vicious satisfaction that bloomed in Draco's chest when he saw hurt flash through Harry’s eyes caused him to smile. Pushing off from the wall, he began to turn but was prevented by Harry hooking a finger through a belt loop on his trousers.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“What?”

 

Draco turned back with an automatic sneer, fully prepared to brush Harry’s words off as an attempt to manipulate him. What he saw, however, caused his chest to ache in a way that he had only ever associated with Harry. There were dark circles forming beneath Harry’s eyes, and the lines around his eyes looked deeper, giving him a slightly haggard appearance, but it was the look in his eyes that really did Draco in. Wide and as open as Draco had ever seen them, Harry’s eyes pleaded with him, although exactly what it was that Harry wanted from him, he had no idea.

 

“I’m _sorry_ , Draco. I know you’re angry with me and you have every right to be, but we can’t just leave whatever this is in Grimmauld to fester. If it isn’t our children who find and open it, it could be their children.”

 

“Then why don’t we just ask them what they’re looking for? Why can _we_ not go looking for it instead of them?” Watching as closely as he was, it was easy for Draco to catch the reluctance that caused Harry to glance away from him. “You’re willing to risk your own children’s lives with this?”

 

Harry let out a huff of breath before whipping his head back to Draco so fast he thought he could almost hear his muscles screaming in protest. “No, I’m not, but I’m also not willing to risk _you_ , alright?”

 

“You’re not doing this without me.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes. “You’re not listening to me. I _can’t_ risk losing you. I made a promise to myself the night Ginny attacked you that I would never again allow you to be hurt by something I could have prevented if only I had taken action against it earlier.”

 

“You think _I’m_ happy with the idea of just letting _you_ go off on your own in search of something that you think could be this dangerous? And don’t tell me you have training: you haven’t been in the field for years.”

 

Clenching his fingers around his wand – this time on purpose – Draco took a deep breath. He knew he had to get control over his emotions again, but was finding that difficult with his heart racing as fast as it was. When Harry did nothing other than watch him, he sighed.

 

“So that’s it then? We’re back to exactly where we began at the start of the night?”

 

It took a few seconds for Harry to do anything other than stare, leaving Draco thinking that he wasn’t going to receive a response. When he did move, however, it was to tug on the belt loop he still had his finger hooked through. Glancing down to Harry’s finger, Draco stood still, resisting being pulled towards him.

 

“I’m sorry, Draco, I really am.” The words were almost whispered, causing the ache in Draco's chest to increase. “I didn’t mean to piss you off. We’ll keep the boys as far from Grimmauld as we can while we work out what we should do. I’ll also go speak to Kingsley. Tomorrow, if it’ll make you feel better.” When Draco didn’t react to the words, Harry let out a small breath. “Please, Dray?”

 

His eyes sliding closed, Draco allowed himself to be tugged to Harry’s chest. He felt one of Harry’s arms sliding down to wrap around his waist, but the other moved so he could rest his fingers beneath Draco's chin. Draco kept his eyes closed when Harry raised his head.

 

“Look at me.”

 

Letting out a slow breath, Draco reopened his eyes. Harry was close enough so that Draco could again see himself reflected in his glasses. His grip on his wand loosened a little when Harry’s arm tightened around his waist.

 

“I’m not going to let _anyone_ be injured because of this, I swear. I know we should just ask them; it’s the most obvious thing we should do. But what if this isn’t coming from them? What if there’s someone else mixed up in this?”

 

“Why would you only just be bringing this up now? Why not tell Astoria as well?”

 

“And have her worried about everyone’s safety as well?” Harry shifted his position, dragging Draco closer to him in the process. “Look, the Manor is one of the securest privately owned buildings I have ever been inside; there is no way anyone could get in through these defences without one of us knowing. The boys are safe where they are right now. Can you please just give me a few days? Let me get in touch with various people and ask some of the Curse Breakers I know what they think. We will do all kinds of sweeps of the house to find out exactly what is in there and where. Just give me a little time to try to find out exactly what we’re dealing with before we involve the boys any further than they already are involved.”

 

There was no pleading tone to Harry’s voice to match the pleading that had returned to his eyes, which Draco was thankful for. He was unsure what the ache in his chest would force him into if Harry truly decided that he needed to beg him for something. He resisted as long as he could, but knew that it was inevitable that he would give in. With a growled _damn it, Potter_ , he tossed his wand behind him and closed the gap between them. The kiss he pressed to Harry’s lips was forceful, tilting Harry’s head backwards against the wall. It didn’t last long, but Draco was panting when he broke away again.

 

“Why are you so determined to do everything on your own?”

 

“I can’t–”

 

“Lose me, yes I understood that part,” Draco interrupted. Raising his hands, he cupped Harry’s face in both hands, brushing his thumbs over his cheekbones. “You are the most frustrating person I have ever met, did you know?”

 

Harry offered up a small smile. “I love you, Draco.”

 

Shaking his head, Draco couldn’t help smiling back. He leant in and placed another, much softer kiss on Harry’s lips.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

“Show me.”

 

Before Draco could react to the words, Harry was dragging him off through the mess he had created towards the bedroom. He managed to bend and grab his wand on the way past, but beyond that, Draco figured that everything else could wait until the morning.


	23. Chapter 23

A throbbing ache in his lower back woke Harry early on Wednesday morning. One of his hands automatically moved to press into the pain as he buried his face into his pillow. They had both been much rougher with each other the night before than Harry knew they should have been, expending some of the adrenalin that their fight had caused. The resulting orgasm had been worth it at the time, but he was definitely paying the price for it now. The thought that lying on his stomach was probably not the best thing for a sore back flittered through his mind, causing him to immediately try to roll over.

 

“ _Fuck!_ ” His breath hissed out of him as his muscles protested the move, sending waves of pain straight through him. “Damn it.”

 

A low chuckle beside him had Harry attempting to glance over to where Draco obviously lay beside him without actually moving his back. When he was unsuccessful, he let out a sigh.

 

“Draco?”

 

“You seem to be in worse shape than I am at the moment.” There was a few seconds’ pause before the bed dipped and Draco's weight pressed into the back of Harry’s thighs. “Let’s see what I can do about that.”

 

The pressure of Draco's fingers pressing into the small of his back had Harry hissing in pain again and attempting to arch out of the way. A mumbled apology and a lighter touch were Draco's only response. It took him a few minutes, but eventually Harry began to relax a little into the touch, enjoying the sensation of Draco's fingers working some of the knots in his muscles out. Draco waited until Harry was pressing up into his touch before murmuring a Healing charm to ease the rest of the pain away.

 

“Why didn’t you just do that to being with?”

 

“Because that charm needs you to be much more relaxed than you were to be effective.” Draco's weight lifted off Harry’s legs and, in a few seconds, he flopped down on his stomach next to him. “Mind returning the favour?”

 

A small frown creased Harry’s brow as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. Surely Draco couldn’t have the same kind of injury he had had? Their relative positions during sex… Harry’s eyes widened when he got a good look at Draco's back. Eight angry-looking red welts had formed on Draco's pale skin, stretching from his shoulders down to the small of his back. Reaching out, Harry placed his fingers into position on the welts, realising that he had caused them the night before by clawing Draco with his nails. His eyes closed as shame rushed through him.

 

“Jesus Christ, Draco. Why didn’t you stop me?”

 

“For the exact same reason you didn’t stop me, I would assume.”

 

Harry nodded silently as he went about Healing the welts. He had been so wrapped up in both the pleasure and the feeling of release he had been getting the night before that it truly hadn’t occurred to him that he was being way too rough with Draco. He made absolutely certain that every little bit of redness had been properly Healed away before he collapsed down onto the bed beside Draco again, finding that the shame he had been feeling was slowly washing away with the small amends he made with each Healing charm. When he turned his head in Draco's direction, it was to find him watching him with half his face covered by his pillow. Harry opened his mouth, but Draco beat him to it.

 

“Don’t apologise. We are both consenting adults who went into this last night with the full knowledge that we were both angry. Previous firsthand experience with angry sex should have given us both a warning, but we either ignored it, or had forgotten.”

 

Harry offered up a small smile. “You’ve been thinking this over?”

 

The edges of Draco's one visible eye crinkled when he returned the smile. “When I woke to those welts, I figured you would have some similar injuries. Taking your martyr complex into consideration, I ran through your likely reactions and what I could do to prevent you from blaming yourself.” He let out a low grunt when Harry jabbed a finger into his side. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

 

Shaking his head, Harry couldn’t help grinning up at the canopy of the bed. “Thank you, Dray.”

 

For the next few minutes, the only sound in the room was their breathing and the occasional chirp from a bird outside the window. Harry knew that they had things to discuss, but exactly how to bring up the fight they had had without causing another one was escaping him for the time being. Instead, he began to run through what he needed to do in order to prevent the boys from actually following through with whatever it was they were trying to find.

 

Speaking to Kingsley was right at the top of his list. It had occurred to him the previous night just before he had succumbed to sleep that Kingsley would have a bit more knowledge about Grimmauld and the types of people who had lived there over the years than he did. So, when he went into the Ministry that morning, his first stop would be Kingsley’s office, where he would both ask about Grimmauld and get official permission to place a charm on the boys so he could track them as needed. If they did manage to somehow make their way to Grimmauld, Harry wanted to know before they could get close enough to do any damage.

 

His next port of call had to be to the various Curse Breakers he knew in London. Surely one of them would be able to spare him an afternoon one day that week to help with a detailed sweep of the house. He and Bill had gone through the house quite thoroughly right after the end of the War, but he knew that he had to look again, considering what had happened. He also knew that a pair of fresh eyes with no history with the house would be better than someone who knew the layout and what was supposed to be where; the new person might be able to spot something that was odd much easier than someone who was used to how everything was set out. He was just starting to run through a list of people he could ask when the touch of Draco's hand resting lightly against his chest drew his attention. He glanced over to see that Draco hadn’t moved from his position lying on his stomach.

 

“You’re going to see Kingsley today?”

 

The muscles in Harry’s shoulders tensed a little, but he ignored it. He nodded. “I am.

 

“And you still don’t want to confront them directly with this?”

 

“Dra–”

 

“Wait. Before you tell me that this is the best option yet again, just listen to me,” Draco interrupted. “I want to be involved in this.”

 

Harry’s insides immediately froze, causing his stomach muscles to clench. He began shaking his head even before he opened his mouth.

 

“No.”

 

Silence followed this, although whether it was because Draco was considering how to respond or because he was angry with Harry again, Harry had no idea. Moving slowly, he reached up so he could place a hand over the one resting on his chest.

 

“Draco?”

 

“You need a Black family member there.”

 

“What? No we don’t.”

 

“ _Yes_ you do. Who else would be able to tell you which particular heirlooms should be checked more thoroughly than others?”

 

Harry couldn’t help scoffing. “The very first time you set foot into that house was when you started seeing me. How the hell are you going to know what is more dangerous than anything else?”

 

The hand on Harry’s chest clenched for a few seconds before releasing. Draco sighed. “Wait here.”

 

“What? But–”

 

“For Merlin’s sake, Potter, just do what I ask for once!” Draco shoved himself up into a sitting position and glared down at Harry. “Please. Just stay here and wait for me to come back.”

 

Harry waited a few seconds before nodding his consent. Draco moved around the room, getting dressed swiftly. Harry couldn’t help shaking his head when Draco grabbed the shirt Harry had been wearing the night before and buttoned it up quickly before slipping out of the room without even glancing at him. Draco had taken to stealing little bits and pieces of Harry’s clothing to sleep in a few months previously, but this was the first time he had purposefully gotten dressed in something that was obviously Harry’s when his own clothing was right there as well. It wasn’t that Harry minded losing his old t-shirts – in fact, he thought Draco looked quite good in his old clothing – but it did confuse him. His was mind drifting a little, conjuring images of just what he could ‘accidentally’ leave out that Draco might look especially good in, when Draco returned. A small blush crept up Harry’s cheeks at being caught fantasising, which he attempted to cover by sitting up in the bed and fussing with the sheets. When Draco didn’t join him in the bed again, he glanced up.

 

“I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone that I own this.”

 

Harry’s eyes widened and his heart seemed to skip a beat as he dropped his gaze to Draco's hands. He was carrying what appeared to be a small box, his fingers clenched around the edges. Spreading his hands carefully out over the sheet still covering his legs, Harry stalled for time while he attempted to calm his now-racing heart. When it looked to him that he could no longer pretend to be smoothing the wrinkles in the sheet, he closed his eyes and hung his head.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Draco, if you have been keeping something dangerous from me in a house that I have allowed my children to become comfortable in…”

 

An amused-sounding puff of breath was Draco's only response before he moved to sit on the edge of the bed beside Harry. Glancing up tentatively, Harry was surprised to note how open Draco's expression was. The reassurance he could see in the small smile Draco offered up was enough for him to begin to relax a little, but not quite enough for the tension to completely leave him.

 

“Considering how much I fought both you and Astoria last night, do you honestly believe that I would keep something dangerous in the house with Scorp around?”

 

“I…” Harry shook his head before running a hand through his hair. “No. Sorry. I, er, I guess with everything that’s been happening…”

 

“You’ve reverted to Auror-mode?”

 

Harry let out a chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I have.” He sighed as he stretched, flexing tense muscles before lying back against his pillows. “What’s in the box?”

 

Shifting so he was facing Harry, Draco carefully placed the box on the bed between them. “Promise me.”

 

“I swear that whatever is in that box will stay between the two of us,” Harry responded with what he considered to be an admirable amount of patience.

 

Draco eyed him for a few seconds, seeming to be measuring him against something before running his fingers along the lip of the lid, pushing it upwards. “My Mother took a series of photographs of the Black family heirlooms that still remained in the Manor before the Ministry came to collect and destroy them all. Many of them were hidden in safes or secret rooms throughout the house, but she thinks she got them all along with what each did and the consequences of activating them. She’s still under the impression, even now, that if anyone finds out that she has allowed the Ministry to destroy what could be considered precious antiques that held a magical quality to them, then she could be endangering her family.”

 

The lid popped off with a quiet swish of cardboard on cardboard. Curiosity rushed through Harry’s veins, causing him to lean forward so he could get a look at the photographs. He hadn’t bothered finding out exactly what it was that they had cleared out during the sweep of Grimmauld Place, so he had no idea of what to expect to see. What he hadn’t expected to see, however, was a picture of a piece of lace sitting harmlessly on top of a dresser. He sighed.

 

“Draco,” he began slowly, his voice soft. “That’s a doily.” The smirk Draco shot him in response had Harry narrowing his eyes.

 

“That _doily_ as you deem it, Potter, is rumoured to have played a significant role in the poisoning deaths of a number of British Ministry workers and one Minister for Magic.”

 

Harry couldn’t help the laugh he let out, but it didn’t last long when he realised that Draco was just sitting there watching him with the same small smile that he had entered the room with. “No. _No_ , that can’t be true! You can’t expect me to believe that one of your ancestors actually managed to poison a Minister for Magic by just cursing a doily.”

 

Draco's smile widened a little. “I knew you wouldn’t want to believe me. Unfortunately, I have no solid proof, just the rumours passed down through the generations of Blacks.”

 

“ _Unfortunately_ ,” Harry murmured, shaking his head in denial. “So what does it supposedly do?”

 

He cocked an eyebrow when Draco silently handed the photograph over. Running his fingers over the edges, he flipped it so he could read the rows of neatly slanted writing on the back.

 

_Lace doily, C. 1823._

_Original owner: Odelina Black._

_An undetectable curse was placed on the cotton before the doily was crocheted; one that could only be activated by the presence of a very specific liquid. Once the liquid made contact with any part of the doily, the curse was activated, sending poisonous spores into the air that cut the ability to breathe of anyone who inhaled them, eventually leading to suffocation._

_Reported use: The deaths of a number of high-ranking officials and one Minister for Magic. The spores activated and killed anyone within their radius within a matter of hours._

 

Harry sat and stared down at the photograph for a long time, trying to comprehend what he had just read. One of Draco's ancestors had supposedly played a part in the death of a Minister. Not that he was really surprised by such a turn of events, but to be confronted with what appeared to be proof like this was a little overwhelming. He jumped when Draco cleared his throat.

 

“Harry?”

 

“I… Um… Why are you showing me this?”

 

His gaze lifted from the photograph to meet Draco's eyes. The smile that Draco had been wearing was no longer evident, replaced with the small crease between his eyebrows that Harry had come to associate with him thinking hard about something.

 

“Mother had to take this doily out of the locked display cabinet it had been in for decades and actually hand it over to the Ministry officials who searched the Manor after the end of the War. Their methods couldn’t detect any trace of Dark magic about it, firstly because of its age and secondly because of the method used when the cotton of the doily was cursed. Everything in this box is the same: antiques and heirlooms from the Black side of the family that she had to physically hand over because the curses on them were undetectable, even by the methods used twenty years ago.” Draco paused long enough to dig through the box and drag out another photo. “Do you recognise this?”

 

Harry took the picture from him with apprehension running through his veins. When he dropped his eyes to take a look at what the picture was of, he couldn’t help blinking in surprise.

 

“This is one of the cups from a tea set that Bill and I cleared out after the War. It tried to spurt boiling water at me when I opened the cabinet it was in.” He ran a hand unconsciously over his left shoulder, where the water had been aimed, knowing that if his reflexes hadn’t been what they had been back then, he would currently have a burn mark from cursed water on his shoulder. “There was more of the set?”

 

“No,” Draco responded quietly, causing Harry to look up at him again. “That was all that was left of this particular set by the end of the War. When the Manor was being used by Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters, some of them got into the cabinet the set was in and destroyed it when they copped a face full of boiling water. This one cup escaped with a small chip to the rim when Bellatrix heard the sound and caught them smashing it. The set was luckier than the men.”

 

Harry had to suppress a shudder at the thought of what Bellatrix likely had done to the men she had caught destroying a part of her family heritage. The sound of Draco taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly had Harry reaching for him automatically.

 

“Dray–”

 

“No, no; I’m good.” Draco held a hand out to stop Harry from moving towards him. “I’ve mostly come to terms with what I saw during the War. My Aunt was… She was one of those people who forced you to confront the things that made you squeamish, or that scared you, believing that it made you stronger. I think that that actually worked for me when she flayed those men alive in front of me. Or, at least, it prepared me for what was to come, considering _he_ had yet to make many appearances at that time.”

 

_He had to watch Bellatrix flay men alive?_

 

Completely ignoring Draco's still-outstretched hand, Harry moved to scoop him into his arms. Draco let out what sounded like a surprised huff of breath as Harry wrapped one arm around his waist and tangled the fingers of the other hand through his hair, forcing him to meet his eyes.

 

“Harry?”

 

Watching as a touch of uneasiness entered Draco's eyes, Harry slipped the hand in Draco’s hair around to brush against his cheekbone. “I’m incredibly lucky to have you, you know.”

 

He grinned when a dark blush began to spread over Draco's cheeks, but didn’t give him a chance to move away. Leaning in, he sealed their lips together in a soft kiss. He could feel the heat radiating out from Draco's cheeks and it only urged him onwards, his tongue entering Draco's mouth with ease when Draco opened for him. The scent of the lingering musk from their night together combined with the smell of Harry’s own aftershave wafting up from the collar of the shirt Draco wore sent Harry’s mind spinning a little, but he knew that they had to finish the conversation before he could continue with any of the thoughts that were running through his mind. He reluctantly broke the kiss and pulled back a little.

 

“Harry?” Draco's voice cracked, causing Harry to grin. “What, uh…”

 

“Do you think you might be able to recognise some of these kinds of curses in Grimmauld? If they still exist there, I mean.”

 

Draco blinked a few times before shaking his head. “Right... Right. Curses.” He shook his head when Harry – unable to help himself – brushed his fingers over his cheekbone again. “Stop that; let me focus.”

 

Harry moved far enough away on the bed to allow Draco some breathing room, but not so far that he couldn’t still reach out to distract him whenever he wanted to. The next hour or so were spent with Draco describing what he knew about each of the objects in the photographs, filling Harry in on the little details that weren’t included in the descriptions on the backs of the pictures. Harry vaguely recognised some of the items as being things that he and Bill had collected and had destroyed or ‘broken’, as per Bill’s job. Others he knew were still sitting in Grimmauld in boxes in the attic, because they had been unsure of their true use, so they had locked them up with strong shields around the boxes, just in case. By the time Draco had come to the end of the photographs, the sun had risen properly. Harry knew that the children would be up by that time of day, but he found himself incredibly reluctant to leave the bed. Running his fingers over the back of Draco's hand as he closed the lid on the box, he smiled.

 

“So am I to take this as meaning that I’m not allowed to tell you that you can’t be there when we search the house?”

 

His stomach fluttered when Draco returned the smile, sending a shiver straight through him. Draco sent the box hovering over to land safely on the dresser across the room before responding.

 

“Of course that’s what it means, you dolt.”

 

Harry let out a surprised gasp when Draco grabbed his wrist and dragged him over towards him. It took a little manoeuvring, considering the fact that Draco was still sat on the edge of the bed, but he eventually managed to get himself settled in Draco's lap, one leg either side of his hips.

 

“I told you last night that you’re not doing this without me and I meant it.”

 

With that, Draco dragged Harry down into a kiss that seemed a little frantic to Harry. Running his hands down Draco's sides caused Draco to puff out a breathy sound almost – but not quite – like a moan. Rocking his hips forward told Harry everything he needed to know: Draco was hard in his trousers; hard enough to make Harry wonder exactly how long he had been waiting. Slipping a hand down in between them, Harry gave Draco's cock a squeeze, testing out just how far gone he already was. Draco broke the kiss with a loud groan.

 

“ _Harry_ …”

 

Draco's eyes were glazed when they opened, causing Harry to grin. “It’s alright, Dray; I’ve got you.”

 

Sliding off Draco's lap backwards, Harry fell to his knees before him. He could feel Draco's eyes on him as he slid his hands along the length of Draco's thighs, kneading the tense muscles there. Locking eyes with Draco as he leant in closer, Harry couldn’t help the wide smile that spread across his face.

 

“I–” Whatever Draco had been about to say was lost in a hiss of breath as Harry began mouthing his fabric-covered cock, sucking gently and humming every now and then. “Fuck…”

 

The whispered expletive had Harry chuckling which, in turn, had Draco swearing even more. He knew that what he was doing was nowhere near enough to make Draco come, but working him up like this was something that Harry had discovered he quite enjoyed. Making Draco moan and squirm gave him such an endorphin rush that he usually ended these little interludes so worked up that he hardly needed touching before he found his own release. Draco's hands landing in his hair had Harry chuckling again.

 

“Harry,” Draco huffed out. “Harry, please, I need… I need you…”

 

Whether that was the full extent of what Draco was trying to say or not, Harry never found out. He had no idea if Draco did it on purpose or not, but the trousers Harry was creating a wet spot in the front of Vanished, leaving Draco hard and completely exposed in front of him. Draco’s hands tightened in Harry’s hair and his thighs spread a little wider in an obvious attempt to give Harry more room to move closer. Taking the invitation, Harry took a deep breath and huffed it out over the base of Draco's cock.

 

“Please, Harry…”

 

Following the guidance of Draco's hands in his hair, Harry moved up so his lips were just barely brushing the head of Draco's cock. “Draco.”

 

“ _Fuck_ … What?”

 

“Look at me.”

 

Harry waited until Draco's glassy eyes connected with his again before opening his mouth and taking the tip in between his lips. Being the centre of Draco's attention while he sucked him slowly into his mouth was one of the most thrilling things that Harry had ever experienced and this time was no different.

 

It wasn’t long before he couldn’t resist Draco's quiet moans and half-uttered words and increased his pace. A quickly murmured charm gave Harry a handful of lube so he could stroke his hand along Draco's shaft, wanting to be able to keep eye contact with him as he lost control. He continued the steady pressure of his lips on the head of Draco's cock, knowing that this was one of the fastest ways of getting Draco off. When Draco was moaning with each breath and his hips jerking uncontrollably, Harry slipped his other hand down to massage Draco's sac, squeezing his balls just hard enough to tip him over the edge. Draco's hands clenched in Harry’s hair as he let out a loud, incoherent string of syllables. Harry managed to swallow most of the jets of hot cum Draco shot into his mouth and charmed the rest away before moving so he was straddling Draco's hips again.

 

“Draco…”

 

He stretched the vowels out, enjoying the shiver that went through Draco's body beneath him. Leaning in, he captured Draco's lips in a heated kiss as Draco's hand closed around his by now throbbing cock. Harry knew that it wouldn’t take much for him to find his release and rocked his hips forward in order to get there that much faster. With Draco's hand twisting and squeezing his cock and his tongue exploring all over his mouth, Harry allowed himself to become lost in the sensations. His hips jerked, sending his head spinning with desire.

 

“Dray…”

 

“Come for me, Harry.”

 

Jerking his hips forward into Draco's hand a few more times, Harry obeyed Draco's command. His mouth opened in a silent scream as his body spasmed with an orgasm that threatened to take his consciousness with it. When he next came to, it was to find that Draco had moved them both to the top of the bed on the pillows.

 

“Draco?”

 

“The kids are all fine with Astoria; I checked while you were asleep.”

 

Blinking in the bright sunlight that shone around the curtains, Harry frowned. “What’s the time?”

 

“Nearly lunch.”

 

“What?” He scowled when Draco prevented him from sitting up. “You let me sleep the entire morning?”

 

“You obviously needed it.”

 

The reasonable tone to Draco's voice had Harry glaring at him when he moved to hover over him. “Did you forget that I needed to see Kingsley this morning?”

 

“No, of course not.” Draco waved a hand through the air as though to dismiss the idea. “ _We_ have an appointment with him this afternoon. Tori said she is more than happy to stay here and keep a watch over the kids.”

 

“‘We’.” Harry sighed.

 

“Yes, Potter, I have already told you that you aren’t doing this without me.”

 

Shaking his head, Harry reached up to brush his fingers through Draco's hair. “Thank you.” He grinned when Draco raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, if I can’t convince you to stay here where you’re safe, then I may as well have you with me rather than risking having you running off on your own.”

 

“You make me sound like a puppy.”

 

Harry’s grin widened. “Well, that’s a kink you’ve never mentioned before…”

 

He laughed when Draco dug his knuckle into his ribcage. Circling his arms around Draco above him, Harry pulled him close, thinking that he had been right earlier when he had told Draco just how lucky he was to have him.


	24. Chapter 24

The worry that creased Harry’s forehead was obvious as his hands ran along Draco's collar, trying to fix what didn’t need fixing. It was sort of endearing, Draco thought, that Harry’s automatic reaction to being worried about something these days was to immediately seek him out. He could have done without the constant fussing with his clothing, but it was a small concession to allow Harry to relieve some of the apprehension running through him. Not that Draco blamed Harry for being nervous, as he himself had been fighting off an attack of nerves ever since he had spoken to Shacklebolt through the floo that morning while Harry slept. The two of them swayed a little as the elevator they were in juddered.

 

“Harry?” Harry’s eyes flicked up to meet Draco's the second he spoke. “You have nothing to worry about.”

 

It was the honest truth as far Draco saw it. Out of the two of them, Harry was certainly the one with the least to fear when it came to wandering the halls of the Ministry. Draco himself had always been on the lookout for flying curses when it came time to make his personal deliveries to the Ministry workers who requested them, but he knew for a fact that Harry would always be safe there. He couldn’t help smiling when reluctance crossed Harry’s face.

 

“I–”

 

Harry’s words were cut off when the elevator suddenly slowed and changed directions, pitching him forward into Draco's chest. Draco's back hit the wall and he let out a grunt as his breath left him in a rush. His arms automatically circled around Harry’s waist, holding him steady as he regained his balance. The oaky scent of Harry’s favourite aftershave flooded Draco's senses and he took a deep breath, savouring the smell while they were alone together.

 

“Sorry, I…” A slight pressure against his arms told Draco that Harry was trying to push himself away from him and he automatically tightened his grip, holding him close to his chest. “Draco?”

 

“Stay.” Draco slid one of his hands to the middle of Harry’s back and pressed, drawing him a little closer. He was rewarded with the feeling of Harry relaxing into the embrace. “Everything will be fine. The children are safe for the time being with Tori. If anything or anyone is ever stupid enough to cross her when it comes to any of them, I’m fairly certain that they would never be heard from again.”

 

Harry’s laugh vibrated through Draco's chest. “I’d certainly never want to give her reason to turn that wrath on me.”

 

“Good to know that you’re sensible about some things, even if they tend to not be the right ones.”

 

This time when Harry pulled back, Draco allowed him to go. It looked as though Harry was about to make a response, but it became obvious that the elevator was slowing down and, despite the fact that he was now much more comfortable with showing his emotions when he was with Harry in public, there was no way Draco was going to allow himself to be caught in his current situation in a Ministry elevator. Thankfully, Harry seemed to sense this, as he only offered up a wide smile in response instead before breaking contact completely. The elevator doors opened a few seconds later, revealing Level One of the Ministry of Magic.

 

A number of interdepartmental memos entered the elevator as Harry and Draco exited, fluttering over their heads. Draco's eyes swept over the round lobby, automatically smoothing his hands over his robes and hair to make sure he was immaculate. The layout of the Ministry hardly ever changed and the current setup of Level One had been established the year the War ended. They had entered a large, circular lobby with portraits of past Ministers for Magic hanging on the wood panelled walls. The eyes of each of the Minsters always followed Draco each time he had had occasion to enter this level of the Ministry, but this time they seemed much more focussed on Harry. Draco was unsure whether he liked this change or not and he frowned as he followed Harry down one of the multiple hallways leading off the lobby.

 

“Harry?”

 

Harry slowed his steps long enough so that Draco pulled up even with him. “Yes?”

 

“Do they always watch you?” Harry’s slightly frustrated-sounding huff of breath was more than enough of a response for Draco and he grinned. “Each time?”

 

“Every single bloody time I came up here after the end of the War, all they did was mutter and watch me. Kingsley’s able to get them to stop, but I’ve honestly grown so used to it by now that I don’t really notice it.”

 

Needing to expend some of the nerves that had risen in him, Draco placed a hand on the small of Harry’s back and leant in close. He knew that he really should be watching his behaviour much more closely than he currently was, but he had discovered that when it came to Harry, sometimes he simply couldn’t help himself.

 

“I’m sure my ancestors knew quite a few curses and hexes that would work on magical portraits,” he stage whispered, keeping his eyes on the closest of the portraits to watch for their reactions. “They had enough cause to curse the portraits in their own homes, after all.”

 

The look on Harry’s face when the portraits broke out into outraged whispers was a bonus that Draco hadn’t counted on. Mumbles of _That’s the Malfoy boy_ , _Could you believe…?_ and _Yes, Abraxas’ grandson_ followed them down the hall that Draco knew led to the Minister’s office, but Draco was much more focussed on watching Harry try to contain his laughter to pay them any attention. Warmth flooded through his chest, spreading out to his limbs rapidly when Harry raised a hand to cover his mouth in an attempt to stifle some of the laughter. It, of course, failed miserably. Harry snorted a little as they passed a particularly outraged portrait who was proclaiming loudly that she had never been so insulted in her entire life. Draco pulled him to a halt just before they entered the Minister’s office.

 

“Harry?” He let out a small gasp when Harry turned and pulled him into a quick kiss. “What…?”

 

“I love you.” The sentiment was reflected in Harry’s expression as he smiled up at Draco, causing a blush to rise on Draco’s cheeks. “Even more so because it’s still so easy to do that.”

 

With that, he placed another small kiss on Draco's lips and turned to enter the office. Draco could hear Harry greeting Geoffrey, Shacklebolt’s secretary, but he stayed outside the office, taking deep breaths in order to calm his racing heart a little. He had no idea why Harry was still able to turn him beet red by expressing his feelings so openly, but it was something that he desperately wished he could get under control. Flexing his fingers and scrunching them into fists in turn expended some of the nervous energy running through him until he was comfortable enough to open the door and join Harry inside.

 

*~*

 

“Good afternoon, Kingsley.”

 

“Harry, Draco! Come in, come in; take a seat. What can I get you to drink?”

 

Harry grinned when Draco requested a Firewhisky. He had known that he had managed to at least slightly embarrass him while they had been standing outside the office, but he really hadn’t thought that it warranted alcohol. But then, he figured, with everything that the boys were apparently about to put them through, he may just have to take up drinking again himself. When prompted, all he asked for was a chamomile tea, though.

 

“So,” Kingsley began when all three of them were seated again with their requested drinks. “What can I do for you both? Your message sounded rather urgent this morning, Draco.”

 

Harry glanced between the two of them. Kingsley was sitting calmly back in his chair, his glass of wine held delicately between two fingers. Draco, on the other hand, appeared to Harry’s eyes to be a jumble of nerves again: his eyes darted around the room before settling on his drink, his breathing was obviously controlled, and his fingers clenched just a little too tightly around the glass. Sitting up straighter in his chair grabbed Draco's attention and Harry nodded in reassurance before turning to face Kingsley.

 

“We’re having a bit of trouble with the boys.”

 

“I’m afraid I am hardly the one to come to for parenting advice, Harry.”

 

Harry grinned. “Not quite what I meant, but thanks for the warning. I’ll keep it in mind.”

 

Keeping a close eye on Draco, Harry explained what had been going on with as much detail as possible, making sure to mention the missing potions. He was quite thankful when Draco stepped in with information on the potions, as Harry was unsure that he would be able to adequately describe something like that without getting it all completely wrong. Because he was watching Draco as closely as he was, Harry was able to pinpoint almost the exact second Draco began to relax: speaking about the potions, Kingsley asked the function of the three that had gone missing. It was almost as though someone had lit something up inside Draco as he answered Kingsley’s questions in detail, describing the effects the potion had on the drinker, and the likely consequences if someone imbibed too much. Once everything had been explained to him, Kingsley sat back in his chair, his fingers laced in front of him and a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

“What exactly is it you need from me?”

 

“Permission to place a Trace on the boys, for one thing,” Harry responded immediately, knowing that it was their best chance of keeping a solid track of exactly where all three of the boys had been.

 

“Do you think they will try to make it to Grimmauld themselves?”

 

Harry began to shake his head, but stopped himself. He truly had no idea what the boys would do if they were faced with the possibility of not being able to actually reach whatever it was that they were after. He turned to Draco automatically to find him watching him.

 

“Draco?”

 

“I am honestly unsure. I now know for a fact that Scorpius is perfectly capable of breaking through my wards whenever he wishes, so placing a ward on the floo won’t stop them if they are determined enough.” He raised an eyebrow at Harry, obviously throwing the question back at him.

 

“I’d feel safer knowing that we can track them directly.” Harry turned back to face Kingsley when Draco nodded agreement. “If this does turn out to be something dangerous, then knowing exactly where they are at any point in time is the best way of being able to stop them if they do try to leave the Manor. Al and James have never tried to do anything like this before – and I’m pretty sure Scorpius hasn’t either – but with the things that have happened in both of our families over the past year or so, who knows what the three of them believe themselves capable of now.”

 

“Emotional upheaval can have strange effects on children, as I’m sure the two of you know already.” Kingsley shifted in his chair, took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. “What makes you think that what they’re after is dangerous? As you have just said yourself, Harry, none of your boys have ever tried to do anything dangerous before this. What if what you overheard isn’t what it sounded like? Or, if it is what it sounded like, then who is to say what they are after?”

 

Harry rolled his shoulders in an attempt to release some of the tension that had built there. He knew that there was no logical reason beyond his own paranoia for him to suspect that the boys were up to no good, but it was impossible for him to shake the feeling. He jumped when Draco cleared his throat softly beside him.

 

“I believe that the fact that this house belonged to the Black family for so long is reason enough to assume that something that is being kept there that requires a specific person’s voice to unlock could be dangerous. You have seen firsthand what my family are capable of producing in terms of the Dark Arts, Minister. Are you really willing to risk something of that nature being unlocked by three boys who haven’t even reached their teenage years yet?”

 

A rush of gratitude towards Draco and his ability to put things into words so easily caused Harry to grin. He knew that he would have never have been able to voice that idea without coming across as either crazy, paranoid or a combination of both. Going running to the Minister whenever something went wrong with Grimmauld was not something Harry wanted to develop a reputation for, especially considering it had been under Kingsley’s advice that he and Bill had gone through Grimmauld as thoroughly as they had after the end of the War.

 

“You make a very good point,” Kingsley conceded with a bow of his head towards Draco. “So, a special Trace placed on all three boys. I will personally organise that this afternoon and key the both of you into it. Harry, I assume you will teach Draco the charm to pull up the location tracker?”

 

Harry nodded. “Yes. Could I ask, though, that you also key Astoria into the charm as well? Scorpius is, after all, her son as well.”

 

A small sound from beside him grabbed Harry’s attention, but when he turned to face Draco, his face was a careful mask. Harry knew that it wouldn’t be obvious to Kingsley, but the signs were clear to him that Draco was attempting to hide something from them. He brushed the strange feeling seeing Draco like that again gave him aside when Kingsley began to speak again.

 

“Of course I can; I should have thought of it myself, in fact. Was there anything else you needed?”

 

After yet another quick glance over to Draco, Harry shook his head. “Nothing that you can help with, honestly. I’m going to go see some of the Curse Breakers I know and see whether one of them can help to sweep the house one day this week. I figure a pair of fresh eyes would be much better than asking Bill to do it again. They might be able to spot something strange that we’ve assumed was normal all these years.”

 

The conversation after that petered out to mostly Ministry gossip and catching up on news of old friends. Most of the afternoon had passed by the time Harry and Draco made it out of the Ministry. Kingsley’s tendency to chat for hours had worked against them, mostly due to the fact that Harry had been unable to find a way of politely exiting the conversation. Draco had, of course, been of no help whatsoever, merely sitting and watching Harry with that impassive mask he had developed the second Harry had mentioned Astoria.

 

Of course, once they had managed to extract themselves from Kingsley’s office, they had run into a group of Aurors who had insisted that Harry had to stop and tell them all about life as a retiree. Harry kept a close eye on Draco all through the conversation he had been forced into with his ex-colleagues, needing to know whether he was alright. Unfortunately, if Draco was giving him any signs, Harry was unable to pick them up. He finally managed to grasp the opportunity to get Draco alone as they walked together across the lobby of the Ministry. Harry, by habit, always used the floo at the very end of the row, the furthest from the greeting witch. When they finally reached said floo, Harry grabbed Draco by the wrist and steered him into a dark corner, out of the sight of anyone else in the lobby.

 

“What did I do? You’ve been completely closed off for over an hour now, not speaking to anyone unless absolutely necessary. What’s wrong?” Harry stepped closer when Draco didn’t immediately respond. “Draco?”

 

It was fascinating to watch the mask that Draco put up against the outside world come down, revealing the man Harry knew and loved. Draco's eyes slid closed, he sagged back against the wall behind him, and he let out a shuddering breath.

 

“I hate that you can do this to me so easily.”

 

Stepping up to Draco, Harry ran a hand through his hair, enjoying the feeling of the soft strands falling through his fingers. “I’m sorry?”

 

Draco let out an amused sound before wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist and pulling him closer. “Are you sure about that? Do you really want to apologise for making me love you?”

 

The smile that Harry gave when Draco reopened his eyes was completely uncontrollable. For the few seconds before their lips connected in a soft kiss, Harry had clearly seen all the love that Draco had just declared for him shining through in his expression. The fact that he had done so in what was a relatively public place made the sensation all the sweeter and caused warmth to spread rapidly through Harry. It was with great reluctance that he broke away after only a few seconds.

 

“I need to… Um…” He trailed off when Draco's fingertips traced along the top of the waistband of his jeans.

 

“Yes?”

 

Harry grinned at the amusement evident in Draco's voice. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly before stepping backwards out of Draco's arms.

 

“Go. I need to go.” He ran both hands through his hair to prevent himself from stepping back up to Draco when he only smiled in response. “I have a Curse Breaker to find.”

 

Draco cocked an eyebrow at him. “I don’t see anything stopping you.”

 

“You’re a bastard.” Harry closed the gap between them again and drew Draco into another kiss before stepping back. “I love you for it, though.”

 

“I know.”

 

Turning to leave, Harry discovered that it was impossible for him to prevent himself from smiling.


	25. Chapter 25

Thursday dawned bright and warm, with the sun shining through the low windows of the kitchen of the Manor early. Ruffling the paper in his hand, Draco let out a small, contented sound. It was good to know that in amongst all the chaos and stress of the past week, he was still able to find some time to himself to just relax. His breakfast was warm, his tea hot and the Manor so quiet during this early part of the day that he was able to lose himself in the stories in the paper for a while, just letting the kitchen fade around him. He was so satisfied that when he finally heard the sound of footsteps tapping down the hall towards him, he scowled and threw a glare at the door. Snapping the paper straight, he held it in front of him, telling whoever it was that had interrupted his peace and quiet that they were unwelcome.

 

“Either that paper is incredibly fascinating, or you are in a foul mood.”

 

Draco let out a small sigh before allowing the top half of the paper to fall down. “Good morning to you too, Astoria.”

 

Astoria grinned at him as she made her way across the kitchen towards the kettle. “ _Astoria_ is it this morning? You really are in a bad mood.”

 

Shaking his head, Draco folded the paper neatly and put it aside to finish later. He honestly didn’t think he was in a bad mood, but having his morning ritual interrupted had never sat well with him. He watched as Astoria made herself some breakfast, her hands waving through the air to Summon ingredients from both the pantry and the refrigerator.

 

“The house-elves are actually being paid to do that for you, you know.”

 

The smile she offered up when she turned back to him with a plate of fried eggs on toast in one hand and a cup of tea in the other could have lit the entire Manor if it had any power behind it. She didn’t speak, however, until she was settled at the opposite end of the table with her food in front of her.

 

“They have never been able to get the ratio of egg-to-sauce right. It’s either way too much and all I can taste is tomato, or it’s way too little and all I can taste is egg with a tiny bit of tomato. This way, I am able to put the sauce on myself without Tinky being too offended when I send the plate back with the heaping of sauce scraped to the side.”

 

She set about salting her eggs and adding what was apparently just the right amount of sauce then, leaving Draco to just sit and watch. The urge to take his paper up again was growing in him, but he knew that there had to be a reason Astoria had risen so early, so he waited. Thankfully, she didn’t make him wait long. Looking up from her eggs, she offered him a small smile.

 

“For someone in such a foul mood, you’re being awfully patient with me.”

 

“My mood was perfectly fine until you entered the room.”

 

She grinned and turned back to her eggs. It was obvious to Draco that she was doing this simply to annoy him, but this time he refused to give in. Without even a small huff of breath to indicate that she had gotten to him, he took up his paper again so he could finish the story on the latest disaster of a Potions Master that St. Mungo’s had hired. It was clear that the man had absolutely no idea of what he should have been expecting when he took the job, which Draco always found amusing, considering he himself had the experience and knowledge, but no chance of ever being offered the position. Not that he would ever accept it, he figured, because there was absolutely no chance of him being willing to give up the freedom that working for himself offered. Turning the page, he shook the paper out so it would straighten for him.

 

“So you’re actually going to just ignore me?”

 

“Only if you insist on continuing being this exasperating.”

 

Her light laugh reached him from across the table. “Alright, I’m sorry. It’s just so unusual to catch you on your own like this these days that I couldn’t help ribbing you a little. Forgive me?”

 

Allowing the top half of the paper to fall again, Draco couldn’t help smiling. “You find me alone, so your first reaction is to annoy me?”

 

“Well, I have always told you that you were more like a brother to me than anything else, right?”

 

Draco shook his head as he placed the paper aside again. He had never once seen Astoria treat Daphne the way she treated him. But then again, he considered, she had never felt any kind of pressure to act like the proper pureblood lady around him, either, which must have taken the pressure off at least a little. He wrapped his hands around the remains of his tea, enjoying the warmth.

 

“So there was actually some reason you came downstairs so early today?”

 

Astoria hummed around a mouthful of egg. “I wanted to talk to you about yesterday, actually,” she said in a rush when she finally managed to swallow. “Not just the Trace thing that Harry did, but the boy’s behaviour while they were with me as well.”

 

Draco's stomach dropped into his shoes. Astoria had left almost the second he had arrived home the day before, giving them no time to confer over what had happened that day. Surely, though, if something bad had happened, she would have taken the time to speak to him about it before rushing off? She was one of the more responsible people he had ever known, after all.

 

“Did something happen that we should know about?”

 

“Oh, no, sorry!” She waved a hand through the air, dismissing the notion completely. “But their behaviour was odd. I know that Harry has caught them conspiring and that they’ve been up to no good with your potions, but they were perfect little angels for me.”

 

Draco blinked. “‘Angels’?”

 

She nodded. “Yes. Lily spent the day with me in the upstairs parlour, but the boys stayed in Scorpius’ room and all they did was talk and play a few games of Exploding Snap. I even had a charm that my sister taught me placed over the room so I could know what they were saying, but I swear that if they were trying to plot anything, then they must have been writing it down. That charm is so good that I could hear the cards snapping down on top of each other from down the hall, so if they had said anything about what they were after, then I would have heard it.”

 

Draco's mind, of course, latched onto one of the more irrelevant points of what Astoria had just said in an attempt to make sense of it all. “What kind of charms has your sister been teaching you?”

 

Astoria sighed. “Draco, could you please try to focus?”

 

Frowning, Draco took a sip of his tea. “Just because you believe that they weren’t talking about–”

 

“It has nothing to do with what I believe and you know it,” she interrupted him, causing him to glance up. Her eyes were narrowed and her hands clenched around her cup. “Why won’t you listen to me when I tell you that I don’t think they are up to something bad?”

 

Taking a slow breath, Draco let it out through his nose. “Tori–”

 

“So _now_ it’s ‘Tori’, not ‘Astoria’? Don’t try to manipulate me, Draco. I know my own son and I refuse to believe that he is up to no good, even if you think he is. He was not raised to be that way and I highly doubt Harry’s boys were either.”

 

This time, Draco stayed quiet. He did have to concede the point to her that none of the three boys had been raised to behave like they apparently currently were, but he still couldn’t give up on the idea that they could be up to no good. He shook his head before looking up to meet her eyes.

 

“It’s not the thought that they could be up to no good that worries me, Tori. I know that none of them have been raised the way I was–” He held a hand up to silence her when it appeared that she was going to object to his words. “Don’t; just don’t. I know what I was like and there’s no point in denying it.” He smiled when she immediately subsided. “It’s more the idea that they could hurt themselves with whatever this is that they’re after. I have full confidence that Harry will be able to deal with whatever is in Grimmauld, but if the boys get to it before we do, then the idea that they could be hurt by this is what is keeping me so cautious. I need to have mapped out all the possible resolutions to this so I know how prepared I need to be.”

 

“So, you know that you will most likely _not_ have to deal with, say… One of the boys losing a limb. But you have a plan for what you _could_ do if that happened?”

 

Amusement was laced through Astoria’s voice and it was obvious by the way her lips quirked up at the corners that she was attempting to not smile. Draco's eyes narrowed and his sat up a little straighter before responding.

 

“Are you able to give me a logical reason why I should not be worried about our son? Or about Harry’s boys? Or even about Lily? Because I have been under the impression that worrying about my children is part of what comes along with being a parent.” Draco had no idea how he was expecting Astoria to react to his words, but breaking into an enormous smile wasn’t really at the top of the list. “Tori?”

 

“It should be illegal for a grown man to be this bloody adorable.”

 

Draco's top lip curled as insult rushed through him. “‘Adorable’? Really?”

 

He got no other chance to react to her words before she pushed her chair back from the table and moved around so she was standing beside his chair. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she turned him to face her so she could place a soft kiss on his forehead.

 

“Yes, Dray, you are absolutely adorable and I love you for it.”

 

Instead of staying beside his chair, Astoria moved off so she could rinse her plate and cup, giving him a slight reprieve. Draco took the few seconds to replay their conversation up to that point back in his mind, but couldn’t come up with a reason that her attitude towards him had changed so rapidly. He nearly jumped when she spoke again.

 

“Of course you should be worrying about _your_ children, Dray. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

 

Her emphasis gave him the clue that he needed to realise what had her so amused. He chose to not react, however. There was nothing shameful in him beginning to think of Harry’s kids as his own, especially considering they were to be married in less than a fortnight. He turned back to stare into his cup of – by now lukewarm – tea.

 

“Then why are you pushing so hard for me to believe that there is nothing to fear in Grimmauld?”

 

She sighed. “I’m not saying that there isn’t. You should be keeping an open mind going into this, however. For all we know, the boys have actually been speaking to someone who would want them to get all worked up, only to find nothing and have to explain why they had stolen potions and broke into Grimmauld. What if they were actually being led around by someone trying to get them into trouble?”

 

“Then me being prepared for all possibilities is a good thing.” He kept his head down as he responded, not wanting to see whether she was laughing at him again or not. “Look, I can’t promise you that I will suddenly start believing that there isn’t anything to worry about. The very fact that I know that they are up to something is enough to keep me concerned over their welfare, even if I also know that there is a possibility that this will turn out to be nothing…”

 

“But the three of us staying on guard is the best chance these boys have of not being injured _if_ they are after something dangerous.”

 

Draco's head whipped up at the sound of Harry’s voice from the doorway. Leaning against the doorjamb, Harry scrubbed a hand through his already atrociously messy hair and shot Draco a grin that had Draco's stomach flipping. Unclenching his hands around the cup, Draco shoved his chair back and moved over so he could rinse the cup out, hiding his reaction from both Harry and Astoria. It seemed that he needn’t have bothered, though, as Astoria reached over to give his hand a squeeze before grinning at him.

 

“We can finish this later.”

 

Harry’s arms wrapped around Draco's waist a few seconds later. Letting out a huff of a laugh, Draco leant backwards into the embrace, making Harry take most of his weight.

 

“She’s so subtle.”

 

“Mmm, who needs subtle?” Harry leant in so he could mouth at Draco's neck, sending tingles straight through him. “Is she alright with staying here with the kids again while we go through Grimmauld with the Curse Breaker?”

 

“She said she was fine with it yesterday.” Draco tilted his head to the side to allow Harry better access. “I would also assume that that was why she was up so early today.”

 

When Harry’s only response was a muffled hum, Draco chuckled. He was quite tempted to just allow Harry his way right there in the kitchen, but he knew that that was definitely not a good idea. Shifting so he was standing on his own again, he pulled away a little, earning himself a disappointed groan from Harry.

 

“We really shouldn’t. Not here and not with a full house.”

 

Harry sighed against the back of Draco's neck. “I know.”

 

Almost as though to emphasise their words, Bastet and Lily rushed into the room at that second, sliding a little on the tiled floor. Bastet crashed into the cupboard just to Draco's right, yowling in what sounded like panic. Lily was hot on her heels, leaning forward in an obvious attempt to catch her.

 

“Lily?”

 

“Morning, Draco! Morning, Dad!” She turned and rushed through the kitchen, her feet still slipping on the tiles as she chased Bastet out the door. “She’s got a page out of my potions book!”

 

A deep laugh from behind him had Draco smiling. Turning so he could lean back against the sink, he shot Harry an enquiring look.

 

“Should we make an attempt at stopping that?”

 

Scrubbing his hand through his hair again caused Harry’s shirt to ride up, showing off a sliver of pale skin. Draco's eyes followed the trail of dark hair down as far as he could before Harry lowered his arm.

 

“Probably? I’m not too sure that I would want a page from a book that has cat slobber all over it back, but she obviously thinks it’s important.”

 

A loud shriek followed by an indignant yowl reached Draco's ears through the backdoor. He grinned.

 

“Perhaps getting her the cat wasn’t such a good idea after all.”

 

“Possibly not.” Harry closed the gap between them in a few short steps and drew Draco into a soft kiss. “I guess it’s the thought that counts, though, right?”

 

Draco opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by another set of shrieks and howls. His stomach flipped again when Harry shot him another grin before stepping away and moving out the door. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before pushing off from the sink. It was time to start the day properly.


	26. Chapter 26

Dust motes floated through the air, causing Draco to sneeze almost the second he stepped through the floo into Grimmauld that afternoon. Waving his wand, he cast a cleaning charm, clearing the room, but not before he let out a second huge sneeze.

 

“Bless you,” Harry murmured from behind him. A few seconds later, a tissue was being waved over Draco's shoulder. “I didn’t realise how long it had been since we’d been here.”

 

Snuffling into the tissue, Draco shot Harry a glare. “We have all been living in the Manor since before Christmas.”

 

Stepping out and around Draco and into the room properly, Harry shrugged. “Sorry?”

 

Shaking his head, Draco threw the tissue into the fire behind him. “How did you ever manage to survive in the Ministry with a memory like that?”

 

By the time Draco turned back from the fire, Harry had left the room. His deep chuckle sounded from down the hall.

 

“I had Hermione do all of my homework!”

 

Amusement was clear in Harry’s voice, causing Draco to shake his head again. He followed the sound of Harry’s footsteps down to the basement kitchen to find him standing before the kitchen table, his fingers dragging along the back of one of the benches. Stepping into the room, Draco took a deep breath, inhaling the slightly musty scent that he had come to associate with lazy mornings spent in Grimmauld. The scent awakened a desire for eggs and bacon in him so strong that he couldn’t help grinning.

 

“It’s strange how certain places and things come to be associated with certain memories, don’t you think?” Draco's stomach flipped when Harry turned to shoot him a look full of warmth. “The start of my fifth year, I came here beforehand to be with the Order. It was the first time I had seen Sirius in person for months. He was sitting here with Remus and they both looked so happy; almost carefree.” Harry’s expression clouded as he moved around the table, his fingers still trailing across the back of the bench. “I couldn’t bring myself to enter the house again until we were on the run, hunting Horcruxes. Nearly all of my memories in this house are tainted by the War and now with what the boys are trying to do… I just don’t know why I don’t just lock it up and never enter again.”

 

Following the tug towards Harry he was being prompted by, Draco moved so he could wrap one arm around Harry’s waist. He draped the other arm across Harry’s shoulders, pulling him in close. He aligned their lips, but drew back a little when Harry leant forward.

 

“You want to know _my_ enduring memory of this house? Of this room in particular?”

 

The touch of melancholy that had entered Harry’s eyes caused Draco's insides to clench with the need to kiss it all away; to protect him from anything that would want to hurt him again. Stepping closer so he could press their chests together, he drew Harry’s bottom lip in between his teeth and sucked lightly. The sound Harry made in response was a strange mix between a groan and a pleased hum, causing Draco to chuckle into the kiss.

 

“Tell me.”

 

Draco found he had to take a deep breath before he responded, just so his voice didn’t wobble. “It was one of the first nights I spent over here; the day you got Lily back, in fact. We were sitting here across from each other and you were so proud of yourself for managing to stand up to Molly and retrieve Lily. You started speaking about Lily and developed this look…” Draco paused to shake his head as the memory flooded through his mind. Moving the arm from around Harry’s shoulders, he brushed his fingers through Harry’s hair and down the side of his face. “Did you know that your eyes practically glow with joy when you speak about the kids? You looked so happy – so content – and I… I wanted to be the one who had caused you so much happiness. I wanted to be the one who caused you to smile like that… I wanted you to love me like that.”

 

All through his little speech, Draco had been watching for the look to appear on Harry’s face. Once he finished, he didn’t have to wait long: Harry’s eyes widened, his mouth stretched into a wide smile and a warmth entered his eyes that sent Draco's insides shivering with delight. Finally giving in to the internal prompting, he pulled Harry close and sealed their lips together in a soft kiss. Harry’s hands slid up Draco's back to clench in the back of the white work shirt he had chosen to wear that day, pressing them even closer. By the time they broke apart, Draco was finding it a little difficult to catch his breath.

 

“Dray…”

 

“Not everything about this house is bad, Harry.”

 

It seemed like Harry was about to respond, but they were interrupted by the sound of the floo alarm. Draco took a deep breath and stepped away, shaking his hands out to his sides to try to stop them from trembling.

 

“The Curse Breaker?”

 

Harry nodded. “It must be.”

 

Taking another deep breath, Draco found he had to resist the urge to fan his hand in front of his face to prevent the blush that was threatening to turn him bright red. He waved his hand towards the door instead.

 

“I’ll be with you soon.”

 

He knew that his current embarrassing state was completely his own fault, but it seemed that Harry was also determined to add to it. Closing the gap between them, Harry drew Draco into another, much lighter kiss.

 

“I do love you.”

 

Before Draco could react in any way, Harry turned and moved out of the room. He leant back against the back of the bench behind him, steadying himself as he tried to calm his racing heart.

 

*~*

 

“You know, the problem with these old houses that have been passed down through the generations is that the Ministry has always been too cowardly to step in and properly search them. I’ve always said that they should be searched each time they change hands, but _no_! The Ministry won’t do that, will they?”

 

Harry shot a quick glance over to where Draco stood across the room in one of the unused bedrooms just in time to catch him rolling his eyes behind the back of the Curse Breaker. Draco had done quite well that afternoon to not hex the elderly man, in Harry’s opinion. Jefferson Indes had been the only Curse Breaker that Harry could manage to convince to take the job of searching Grimmauld on such short notice the day before and he was now wondering whether he should have waited and held out for one of the ones he knew. Jefferson had come highly recommended, however, so he knew he had to give him a chance. He watched as Jefferson rummaged through one of the trunks that was sitting against the far wall, moving the things inside around at a rapid pace.

 

“Perhaps you should try this one?” Draco's voice was painfully polite, a sure sign to Harry that he was controlling his temper. “From what I can tell, the Blacks all liked turning their old china into weapons with undetectable curses.”

 

Moving so he could see what Draco was staring at, Harry got a quick glimpse of what appeared to be a set of fine china sitting in a glass display case. His view was soon obscured by Jefferson moving in front of him, though. Resisting the urge to sigh, Harry moved so he was standing beside Draco.

 

Now that he thought about it, Draco had, in fact, done exceptionally well that afternoon when it came to discovering which items should be checked. Subtly wrapping his arm around Draco's waist, Harry pulled him backwards a little, instinctively moving him away from the display case on the off-chance that whatever was wrong with the china set exploded, or something equally as horrible. A small, slightly amused-sounding huff of breath was Draco's only reaction, causing Harry to smile at him.

 

“Why would you pick this one?”

 

Harry immediately stepped away from Draco, giving him some space. The afternoon had gone quite well, he figured, considering they had managed to find at least two things in each of the rooms they had investigated so far that had had some kind of subtle or undetectable curse on them. As he listened to Draco explaining exactly why he would consider the fine china to be a potential cursed object, Harry allowed his mind to wander a little. It drifted immediately back to that morning and Draco's explanation of why he shouldn’t consider everything in Grimmauld to be connected with bad memories.

 

The fact that Draco had harboured feelings for him for much longer than they had been together was something that Harry had worked out for himself. He had never brought the subject up, but it was just something that he knew to be fact, especially after the way Draco had proposed to him on Christmas Day. From the proposal, Harry’s mind drifted again over the time they had spent together in the months before that, then even further back. He didn’t ever remember seeing headlines about Draco and Astoria through the years, not that he had really been watching for them. What he did remember was seeing pictures of Draco just after the end of his and his Father’s trials, as well as socialite pictures of Astoria over the years as well. It seemed to Harry that Draco had managed to keep his private life extremely private, even before he married Astoria. A sense of curiosity washed through him and he glanced back across the room. Draco was standing next to Jefferson, the two of them examining the china set.

 

His life before Astoria was something that Draco never spoke about; at least, not with Harry. In fact, all Harry really knew about Draco's life before he got married was that he never wanted to repeat the experiences he had had with the various men he had been with. That was one thing that had always made Harry curious, but he was unsure whether Draco would open up to him about that aspect of his past. It was entirely possible, Harry figured, that if Draco hadn’t yet mentioned anything to him about it, then it was something that he simply wanted to forget forever. That didn’t stop Harry’s curiosity, however. He wanted to know about Draco's past, he wanted to know about the men he had been with, and he especially wanted to know what it was that had decided Draco on never bottoming for anyone again. He knew that it had happened in the past, but now Draco was so vehemently against the idea that Harry had simply never had the courage to ask about it. He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard his name mentioned.

 

“Harry?” Draco was watching him with an inquisitive glint to his eyes. “Are we ready to move into the attic?”

 

“Er…” Harry spun in a circle, realising that he had picked up a musty-smelling tablecloth that had been in the room for Merlin knew how long while his mind had been drifting. “Yeah, yeah, sorry. I was… Yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Following behind Draco, Harry exited the room and closed the door behind them. He hadn’t bothered cleaning this part of Grimmauld when he had gone through it after moving in, mostly because he knew that they would never really use it. There were more bedrooms and parlours than Harry knew any small family would ever need to use, so he had kept the very top level of Grimmauld locked away. The attic was dark, gloomy and full of dust. Harry waved his wand the second he entered the room, cleaning it of the dust motes and opening the curtains in one move.

 

“Well, well. I haven’t come across an attic like this in many long years.”

 

Harry turned to face Jefferson, who was standing just inside the doorway, his hands on his hips. Jefferson turned slowly, obviously taking in the room. Shooting a quick look over Jefferson’s head to where Draco stood, Harry couldn’t help grinning. The look of pure disgust on Draco's face as he eyed a mouldy old trunk sent amusement coursing through him, his earlier thoughts about the past flying out of his mind as he focussed fully on the present.

 

“Mr. Potter?”

 

Harry shook his head to clear it before turning back to Jefferson. “Yes?”

 

“Could I trouble you to start checking over in that corner over there? Take Mr. Malfoy with you, just to make sure you get everything.”

 

Draco met Harry in the corner of the attic that Jefferson had indicated, the look of disgust never once leaving his face. Harry couldn’t help nudging him with his hip as he made his way up behind him.

 

“You can’t honestly tell me that a little dirt will put you off. You _work_ with dirt every day of your life!”

 

“There is a very distinct difference between the _soil_ I work with and the heaping amount of mould in this attic.”

 

Harry was silent for a few seconds while they moved over to begin their search. He found he couldn’t help himself, however.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Don’t you also work with moulds in potions?”

 

Harry let out a laugh when Draco began grumbling to himself in response. He caught something about ‘annoyance’ and a few words that sounded distinctly like ‘pain in the arse’ before he managed to almost trip over a stack of old books. He gasped when the top one stood on its cover and scuttled off beneath an old table.

 

“Alright, maybe you were right: this place is a little creepy.”

 

Draco sighed. “Perhaps we should catch that book.”

 

They spent the rest of the afternoon scrambling over piles of books, old trunks, and pieces of furniture. There were a number of really good finds that Draco made during the course of the afternoon, each one causing Jefferson to look at him with increasing wonder. Harry had, of course, kept an eye out all afternoon for anything that could be opened only by voice, but he hadn’t come across any likely suspects. Mostly what he found were cockroaches and mouse droppings. Casting yet another cleaning charm at a pile of roach droppings in the far corner revealed a tiny locket sitting on the floor.

 

“Jefferson?”

 

The elderly man was by Harry’s side in a matter of seconds. “What do you have there, boy?”

 

Harry stepped back a few paces, giving Jefferson room to cast whatever was needed to identify whether the locket was cursed or not. The press of a warm hand to the small of his back told Harry that Draco had made his way over and he leant back into the touch for a few seconds.

 

“Strange…”

 

Unable to help himself, Harry stepped forward, but was stopped by Draco grabbing a handful of his shirt. “What’s strange?”

 

“This locket isn’t cursed – at least, not by any conventional means – but it is sealed shut tight.”

 

Harry’s insides felt as though they had turned to ice. He cast a glance back to Draco, whose eyes had widened a little. Turning back, he found Jefferson holding the locket out to him.

 

“It’s your house, Mr. Potter. Therefore, it belongs to you.”

 

Jefferson stomped away to continue searching in his part of the attic, but Harry stood where he was, staring down at the small locket. It was, of course, in the shape of a tiny snake head, as so many of the other pieces of old jewellery they had found were. Two red gems glinted up at Harry out of the snake’s eye sockets, their colour enhanced by the silver of the charm itself. It was attached to a fine silver chain that, surprisingly enough, held no knots. He glanced up to see Draco watching both him and the locket intently.

 

“Could this be…?”

 

Draco shook his head slowly. “I have no idea. It obviously used to open: look.”

 

One of Draco's elegant fingers moved over to rub against the side of the snake’s head. Harry leant closer, squinting his eyes so he could just make out two tiny hinges. Flipping the locket onto the other side, he examined the edge there carefully, but found no way of opening it. His heart began to race as he met Draco's eyes again.

 

“There’s no latch.”

 

“No.”

 

“And no other visible way to open it.”

 

“No.”

 

“This could be what they were looking for.”

 

Draco hesitated. “Perhaps.”

 

“Alright, look. Jefferson says there’s no curse on this. I’ll keep it close, just in case we find nothing else that could be what they were looking for.”

 

With that, he pocketed the locket. Draco eyed him for a few seconds, but said nothing more. Harry had trouble focussing on much more than the weight in his pocket for the rest of the afternoon and he became more and more positive that he had accidentally found what the boys were apparently looking for. When they had found nothing else by the end of the afternoon, Harry became convinced.

 

“Thank you for all your help today, Jefferson. I can’t believe that we were actually living with so many dangerous things still around.”

 

The wrinkles in Jefferson’s face creased in what Harry had come to understand was a smile. “Not a problem, Mr. Potter.” He turned to nod to Draco. “Mr. Malfoy. Please, if you ever are in need of my services again, feel free to ask. You have my card.”

 

Harry nodded and escorted him to the floo in the living room. When he turned, Draco was leaning against the doorjamb.

 

“You think the locket is what they’re after.”

 

“What else could it be? There is nothing else left in the house that looks like it should open but can’t; I’ve been searching the entire afternoon.”

 

“As have I.” Draco scrubbed a hand through his hair, mussing it up in a way that distracted Harry for a few seconds. “Are you absolutely certain?”

 

Pulling the locket out of his pocket, Harry held it up so it caught the light. The red gems sparkled in the firelight as the locket turned on the chain.

 

“It looks like it could be dangerous.”

 

Draco rolled his eyes. “You can’t go by how something looks; you know that! If we all did that then no one would believe for a second that you had done all you’ve done, because you dress like a bloody gardener half the time.”

 

Harry blinked. “A gardener?”

 

“Flannelette and denim have not been a fashion statement since the mid-nineties, Harry.”

 

Harry followed Draco's gaze to his red, yellow and white flannelette shirt. He huffed out a slightly insulted breath. “Can we please focus on the locket and _not_ my fashion choices?”

 

Draco shot him a smirk. “How about we take that home to Astoria and see what she thinks?”

 

Eyeing Draco for a few seconds, Harry eventually agreed. He knew that there was nothing else they could do in Grimmauld that day anyway, so they may as well just head back to the Manor. He smiled when he felt Draco's arm wrapping around his waist when he turned to grab a handful of floo powder.

 

“I think we did well today.”

 

“That we did.”

 

“So well, perhaps, that I may need to reward you later on tonight.”

 

Draco chuckled in Harry’s ear, his hot breath tickling the sensitive skin. “Indeed?”

 

“Mmm,” Harry responded quietly. “I’ll definitely consider it.”

 

Draco's laugh followed Harry through the floo back to the Manor. He was grinning when he exited and found himself already planning their night together.


	27. Chapter 27

__

Harry’s attention had been on the bloody snake locket the entire morning and it was starting to get on Draco's nerves. Admittedly, it was only half eight, but still… If he was going to be ignored completely, then he would have preferred for it to be over something other than a bloody piece of old jewellery. Taking up the butter knife sitting beside his plate, he sent it crashing down onto the floor, causing Harry to jump.

 

“ _So_ sorry to have interrupted the two of you. Would you prefer some time alone?”

 

Harry’s responding grin caused Draco's shoulders to tense and his eyes to narrow. That was just what he needed right at that particular moment: to be laughed at. He ducked quickly under the table to retrieve the knife, hoping that when he resurfaced, he would have been able to relieve some of the tension that had been running though him ever since Harry had discovered the stupid locket two days previously. He took a couple of deep breaths before grabbing the knife and slipping back up to sit on his chair. When he glanced up, it was to find Harry still smiling at him.

 

“You’re cute when you’re jealous.”

 

“It is not possible to become jealous of a piece of jewellery, Potter.”

 

“Fine. You’re cute when you’re grumpy.”

 

“Fuck off,” Draco spat before grabbing his plate and moving so he could toss it into the sink.

 

It shattered the second it landed, spraying the sink and bench with tiny shards of ceramic. Instead of relieving some of the anger and nerves tensing his shoulders, it only increased it, causing him to huff out a somewhat shaky breath. Placing his hands flat on the edge of the sink, Draco leant in, bowing his head and closing his eyes.

 

“I can’t do this.”

 

Harry’s arms were around Draco's waist within seconds, pulling him away from the mess and turning him so Harry could embrace him properly. A quickly mumbled charm obviously cleaned the sink of the remains of the plate before Harry leant in close enough so his lips were pressed to the shell of Draco's ear.

 

“You’re not alone.”

 

Harry’s hands moved in a slow pattern up and down Draco's back, soothing some of the tension from him, but it wasn’t enough to cause Draco to want to respond. Shaking his head, he wrapped his own arms around Harry’s waist, pulling them tightly together.

 

“I’d never leave you to deal with this on your own, Dray. Neither would Tori.”

 

“I don’t want to have to be dealing with this at all.”

 

He was being petulant and childish, he knew. _Boo fucking hoo, poor me. Everything is going to hell and all I’m doing is whinging about it!_

 

“I didn’t–” Shaking his head again when his voice wobbled, Draco clamped his mouth shut and just leant into the embrace, hiding this current bout of weakness from Harry’s eyes.

 

Friday had been a rather stressful day for the both of them, as they had searched through the old Black family records on where each piece of family jewellery had been distributed. There had been a number of necklaces that had been taken to Grimmauld Place over the years, but none of them matched the locket Harry had left sitting on the kitchen table. Draco had begun to wonder whether this was something that hadn’t come from the Black side of the family at all, but as a gift from one of the families of a female who had married into the Black family a number of generations ago. There would be no way they could discover which of his ancestors the locket had belonged to if she had brought it with her into the family from another house, as all of the pureblood families Draco knew were extremely secretive about the types of jewels they kept in their homes. Hell, he had had difficulty getting the records from his own Mother so they could search them, let alone from someone else’s.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“How _are_ we going to deal with this?”

 

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly before loosening the grip he had around Draco and pulling back so he could look him in the eye. “Would you hex me if I said ‘together’?”

 

Looking at the part-questioning, part-amused expression on Harry’s face, Draco couldn’t help but offer up a small smile in response. “Yes, I believe I would.”

 

“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t.” Harry chuckled when Draco rolled his eyes. “To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what we can do. I mean, if we allow the boys to go through Grimmauld now, then at least we’ll know if we have the right piece of jewellery when they can’t find it, but…”

 

“But that locket was found under a pile of cockroach shit in the corner of the attic.”

 

Harry sighed. “I know, it doesn’t seem like the perfect hiding place for a dangerous Dark object, does it?”

 

Draco was about to respond when he was interrupted by the sound of several pairs of footsteps trumping down the hall towards them. The owners of the feet entered the room in the next few seconds, causing Harry to pull away from Draco completely.

 

“Oh, hey, cool locket!” Albus grabbed the necklace and held it up in the air, only for it to be snatched out of his hand by Scorpius, who arrived a few seconds later.

 

“What would a _Gryffindor_ know about snakes?”

 

“Al!”

 

“Scorpius!”

 

The two boys froze when first Harry, then Draco snapped at them. Scorpius held his hands up in an almost comic imitation of a criminal who had just been caught by members of the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol, the locket dangling from his fingers. Letting out a sigh, Draco ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Sorry boys, but that locket isn’t a toy.”

 

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “I’m _too old_ for toys, Dad.”

 

It was Albus’ reaction that caught Draco's attention more than Scorpius’, though. His eyes widened and he turned slowly towards Scorpius, his eyes obviously fixed on the locket. Draco's heart seemed to almost skip a beat when Al stretched his fingers towards the locket.

 

“Is it cursed?”

 

There was such a reverence to Al’s voice that a cold shiver ran straight down Draco's spine. He shoved himself off from the sink, but Harry beat him to it. Striding over to the boys, Harry took the locket from Scorpius’ hand and pocketed it without a word.

 

“Dad, if it’s cursed, you might not want to stick it in your pocket.”

 

“Albus–”

 

“What’s cursed?”

 

“Dad has a cursed necklace in his pocket!” Albus turned eagerly towards the doorway, where James was just entering the room. “He says we’re not allowed to see it, though.”

 

Scrubbing a hand over his eyes, James let out a huge yawn before responding. “A necklace?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Boys, boys!” Harry held his hands up and stepped forward, interrupting whatever Al had been about to say. “The necklace isn’t cursed.”

 

“Then why can’t we see it?”

 

Three pairs of eyes turned to pin Harry with equally curious looks. Unable to help himself, Draco looked to him as well, wondering exactly how he was going to talk his way out of this one.

 

“Well, I, er…” Harry turned to Draco, pleading in his eyes.

 

Draco sighed. “Because he said so.”

 

“That’s not an answer, Dad.”

 

“It is the only answer you are going to receive, young man. Now go upstairs and prepare for the day, thank you. We are due to meet the Weasley family for a picnic at ten.”

 

Scorpius looked for a second like he was going to backtalk Draco, but thought better of it. Scowling, he turned and stomped away, with Al and James following behind a few seconds later. Draco could have sworn that Al shot a look at Harry’s pocket that held the necklace before he left, but knew that it could have also just been his overactive imagination. When he refocussed on Harry, it was to see him grinning at him again.

 

“What?”

 

“You remembered the picnic.”

 

“Of course I remembered the bloody picnic, Harry! You did make the plans directly in front of me, after all.” Draco watched as Harry ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. Stepping forward, he hooked his finger into the top of the pocket that held the necklace. “What are you going to do with this?”

 

Harry’s grin dimmed a little as his gaze dropped to his pocket. “I have no idea. I was thinking that I should just keep it with me, but now they know I have it…” He shrugged. “What do you think?”

 

Draco took a few seconds to properly consider his answer, wondering just how much trouble their three boys could get themselves into. “I have a lockbox that will only open to my wand.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

Draco nodded and began to move out of the room, but was halted by Harry grabbing his wrist. He turned just in time to be pulled into a soft kiss. The scent and taste of chamomile flooded his senses and Draco smiled.

 

“What was that for?”

 

“Because I can.”

 

Harry grinned at him before moving past and through the door into the hallway. Shaking his head, Draco followed, completely unable to prevent the wide smile that crossed his face.

 

*~*

 

“I hear you have a cursed necklace in your pocket, Harry?”

 

Hanging his head as Bill made his way slowly up a small hill towards him that afternoon, Harry grinned. They had just finished stuffing themselves with more food than Harry knew he should have eaten and were currently watching as the older children – as well as Teddy and Victoire – played a pickup game of Quidditch in the field behind Luna and Rolf’s house in the Lakelands. Lazing in the sun, full of good food, Harry had caught himself almost nodding off a number of times during the course of the day, but had thankfully caught himself. A sunburn was the last thing he needed a week before the wedding.

 

“It’s not cursed and isn’t in my pocket any longer, sorry.” Shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, he raised his eyes so he could look up at Bill standing over him. “Which of the boys told you?”

 

“It was Louis, actually.”

 

Harry’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline at that. So the boys had been talking to the younger kids about this, had they? This was an interesting development, although Harry didn’t know whether it was a good one or not.

 

“What’s going on, Harry?”

 

There was an overly familiar ‘don’t lie to me’ tone to Bill’s voice; one that Harry had always associated with Molly. Sitting up a little straighter, he gestured to the chair beside him, indicating that Bill should sit. He had known that they would have to inform the rest of the family about their suspicions about what the boys were up to and now seemed like as good a chance as any. Glancing around quickly, Harry also gestured to Hermione and Percy, who were sitting not that far off. He was unsurprised when he turned to find Draco sitting in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the small circle the adults had formed while eating lunch. Making eye contact with him showed Harry all the support he could want in Draco's expression and he smiled back in thanks.

 

“Harry? Is something wrong?”

 

Taking a deep breath as Hermione and Percy seated themselves, Harry began explaining what they knew. It was fascinating to watch both Hermione and Percy reacting to his words, as it was clear from their equal looks of concentration that they were already working through things for themselves. Bill, however, was a much harder read for Harry. Things had been chilly between the two of them both during and after Ginny’s trial, but they had been getting much better over the past few months. Bill had yet to start treating Harry with the same familiarity that he had before the mess with his marriage exploding into tiny shards around him, but Harry would take whatever he could get when it came to his family. If Bill was speaking to him like a normal human being, then he was happy. Silence surrounded them when he and Draco had finished their explanation. It was Bill who spoke first.

 

“So, you think that this locket that you found in the attic is what they’re after?”

 

Harry couldn’t help frowning. “I’m taking all precautions just in case it is, but I am honestly unsure. Draco?”

 

“Considering the boys’ reactions to seeing it on the table this morning, I wouldn’t rule it out definitely.”

 

There was a formal tone to Draco's voice that Harry was sure only he could make out. It told him how nervous Draco still was when around the Weasleys, but he figured as long as Draco hadn’t mentioned it, it had to be dissipating; at least compared to when they had first begun trying to combine Harry’s families.

 

“However,” Draco continued, “I would also love to know exactly which portrait they have been speaking to. The portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black was removed from the house in the first clear-out Harry did after the War, so I doubt that it could be him, but there has to be a limited number of people who knew that house intimately enough to have hidden something in there.”

 

“Why do you both seem so certain that whatever they are after is dangerous?” Percy’s tone was more curious than accusatory. “If you don’t know who they have been speaking to, then you can’t know the person’s motivations behind telling them to go looking for this… _thing_.”

 

Harry nodded slowly. “Astoria said nearly the exact same thing.”

 

“We’re only being cautious. My family doesn’t have the cleanest record when it comes to enchanted items that are being kept in the house, so there’s no point in not being ready just in case it does turn out to be dangerous.”

 

Harry couldn’t help nodding again. “The locket Horcrux was hidden in there, after all.”

 

“That was Regulus after he changed sides in the War, though.”

 

Instead of nodding again, Harry froze at Hermione’s words. _Regulus!_ He was one of the people Harry had not considered hiding something in the house, but who had obviously done it before. Maybe the boys had managed to find an old picture of him at Hogwarts? Maybe they had even found it in Grimmauld when they had been there last. Was it possible that they had been planning this for much longer than Harry and Draco knew of?

 

“Harry?”

 

“Huh?” His eyes narrowed when he heard a stifled snort from Draco's direction. “Sorry, I, er… Sorry, Hermione; Regulus hadn’t occurred to me before.”

 

“Well, perhaps he should have. The house was his and Sirius’, so he must have had plenty of opportunity to hide something. Since it was only he and his Mother there at that stage, most of the house would most likely have been closed as well, which would give him even more opportunity.”

 

“True, but there’s also no guarantee that it could be him,” Harry couldn’t help pointing out.

 

“Which is exactly why we are taking all these precautions,” Draco added.

 

Unfortunately for Harry, it didn’t seem like either Bill or Percy had anything else to add to the conversation at that point in time. Bill promised to spread the word through the adults the very first opportunity he got before standing and moving over to where the kids were playing Quidditch. Harry watched him go before turning his attention back to the conversation going on around him. It had changed to Ministry gossip, which he really wasn’t all that interested in, but he smiled and nodded along anyway. He had to figure that being able to let the others know of their suspicions could only be a good thing, as it meant more sets of eyes watching out for the boys. And, it being only one week before the wedding, the more people watching out for his children while he was distracted, the better.


	28. Chapter 28

“Harry?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I have been thinking–”

 

“What the hell are you…?” Draco's eyes flicked up just in time to see Harry rolling his eyes in what he considered to be an over exaggerated way. “Do you have _any_ idea how long I’ve been looking for that t-shirt?”

 

Draco was only just able to prevent the smile that threatened, but he still turned back to face his wardrobe, just in case. “I would assume about a week, as that was when I took it from your clean laundry.”

 

The sigh Harry let out in response was long-suffering. Draco grinned as he sorted through the clothing hanging in his wardrobe, trying to make a decision on what to wear the next morning. The t-shirt in question was an old Weird Sisters shirt from a concert Draco remembered fondly. Unfortunately for Harry, the fact that Draco had been at the same concert was working against him at that moment, as Draco knew for a fact that this particular t-shirt had to be at least thirteen years old, possibly a little older.

 

“You do realise that I actually like my clothing, right?”

 

Draco nodded. “As do I, just not for the same reasons.”

 

“My Weird Sisters concert shirts aren’t supposed to be worn as pyjamas.”

 

“Harry, this shirt is older than Albus; it is not supposed to be being worn _at all_.”

 

This was an argument – no, conversation, Draco reconsidered a second later – that the two of them had been having since the start of the summer. It wasn’t that Draco objected to the way Harry dressed; no, in fact, he quite liked the slightly rugged style Harry had developed for himself over the years. The problem he had was that it appeared that Harry had not purchased anything new to wear for quite some time. Of course, he knew that simply stealing Harry’s clothes wasn’t a permanent solution, but he found it strangely amusing watching Harry fight against the desire that he could clearly see on his face every time he entered their bedroom wearing one of Harry’s old shirts. Turning back to where Harry sat on the bed, Draco had to smile: with his arms crossed across his chest and scowl firmly in place, it appeared that Harry was sulking. Deciding to simply ignore Harry’s mood, Draco changed the subject as he moved over to his side of the bed.

 

“I do actually have something I need to ask you.”

 

“I draw the line at you stealing my jeans.”

 

Draco smiled as he rubbed some homemade moisturiser into the backs of his hands – working in the greenhouse during summer always dried his skin – before turning to sit back against the headboard with Harry. “What I need to ask isn’t even remotely apparel related.”

 

Harry’s gaze dropped to Draco's fingers, which were still rubbing together slowly. “Not at all?”

 

Shifting closer so he could grasp one of Draco's hands, Harry began slowly massaging the cream into Draco's fingers. It was such a surprise move that Draco could only sit and stare blankly at his hand as Harry worked his fingers.

 

“I, uh…”

 

Harry huffed out a small, amused sound beside him, but Draco was too focussed on his fingers and the sensations Harry was sending through him to wonder what was so funny. It being a Sunday, Draco had spent most of the day working in the greenhouse, which always left him with an ache in his hands, but it was something that he had simply accepted as a part of his life years ago. The sensation of having that ache massaged out by Harry’s slightly rough fingers was completely new and it was sending little jolts of pleasure straight through Draco.

 

“Not even a little bit?”

 

Draco blinked as Harry flipped his hand over so his fingers were working into Draco’s palm. He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out in a huff, hoping to clear his mind of the sudden rush of desire that had flooded it.

 

“No, no, I…” He paused when Harry reached for his other hand.

 

“You…?”

 

“I, uh… I want you–”

 

“Oh, believe me, I am fully aware of that fact.”

 

“No, I–”

 

“I’m wrong? You don’t want me?”

 

Draco huffed out a slightly frustrated sigh. “ _Harry_ …”

 

“ _Draco_ …”

 

The fact that Harry could match his tone almost exactly only added to Draco's building frustration. Yanking his hand back, he shot Harry a glare.

 

“Why are you so annoying?”

 

“Coming from the shirt thief?”

 

“Oh, for… You know what?”

 

Draco quickly peeled the shirt off and threw it onto the floor by the bed, earning himself a low chuckle from Harry. Still moving swiftly, he hooked an arm under Harry’s knees and pulled him down the bed so he could move to hover over him. Hooking his ankles over each other, Draco used them to pin Harry’s legs to the bed while his hands grasped Harry’s wrists, holding them up above his head. The look of pure shock that crossed Harry’s face made the effort worth it. Draco grinned when Harry moved beneath him, obviously testing the strength of his grip.

 

“Are you happy now?” Draco's grin widened when Harry’s only response was a huff of breath and to twist his hands in Draco's grip. “Are you going to let me speak?”

 

“I was annoying you, so your solution is to strip nearly naked and pin me to the bed? And now you want to _talk_?”

 

Draco couldn’t help the short laugh that escaped him at the mix of confusion and disbelief in Harry’s voice. Releasing Harry’s hands, he sat back on his heels, making sure to keep Harry’s legs pinned beneath him.

 

“I do, and it seems to have worked.” He smiled when Harry shook his head, but knew better than to get drawn back into yet another looping conversation. He waited until Harry was looking up at him with expectation before speaking again. “Look, I was going to ask whether you would consider taking this week off work as well. I know that you told them that you would only take last week off, but with everything that has been happening, as well as the wedding _and_ the rehearsal coming up, I just thought that it would make things a lot easier on… Well, on everyone involved, really. We still haven’t come to a decision on what to do about the boys and whatever they’re up to and I know I’d feel a lot better if I knew that you were here with us, just in case they managed to pull something off. Also, wouldn’t it make more sense to have all four of the kids together with us before the wedding rather than pawning yours off on their grandparents? They will have to get used to living together at some point and if we continue to separate them, then that would be detrimental to that cause.”

 

Draco paused to take a deep breath. He hadn’t realised just how fast he had begun speaking, but now that he had realised, he became aware of a wash of nerves through his system. He had yet to ask anything like this of Harry, knowing just how important Harry’s work was to him. But this time, he had felt that he was justified in asking Harry to take some more time off, even if it wasn’t to spend in leisure, but rather, in helping him to deal with a near-crisis with their boys. The fact that their wedding had taken an immediate backseat in the face of said crisis had played on Draco's mind a few times over the past two weeks, but he knew that the safety of their boys had to take precedence. His stomach flipped a little when a small smile spread slowly over Harry’s face.

 

“I love you, Dray.”

 

Draco blinked a few times as surprise rushed through him. “I, uh…”

 

Harry grinned. “You seem to be a little lost for words tonight.” Sliding his hands along the length of Draco's thighs, Harry’s grin widened into a true smile when Draco's breath hitched. He rubbed small circles with his thumbs over Draco's thighs before slipping his hands further up to grip Draco's hips, holding him firmly. “I’ll send a letter off to Iris in the morning.”

 

Cocking his head to the side, Draco stared down at Harry for a few seconds, slightly disbelieving that he had agreed so readily. “That easily? You can take time off just like that without even giving them any kind of notice?”

 

“Well…”

 

Harry’s eyes slid off to the side as he considered his answer. His fingers had not loosened their grip on Draco's hips, but Draco found the sensation pleasurable in an odd way. It was unusual for him to find himself in this kind of position on top of Harry – straddling his hips with his feet crossed beneath him – but he figured he may be able to get used to it rather than their usual positions.

 

“Well,” he prompted when Harry took too long to respond.

 

“Alright, so Iris will most likely be pissed off at me and we will hear all about it at the wedding, but she does keep telling me that because I own the place, I can take time off without warning. And I wouldn’t feel right, leaving you and Tori to deal with this by yourselves, considering my boys are apparently most of the problem here.”

 

“Oh, don’t discount Scorp’s ability to influence others into doing his bidding, believe me. I wouldn’t place the blame completely on Al and James if I were you.”

 

“I would assume he inherited that trait from you?”

 

Draco couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. “And why would that be?”

 

He sucked his breath in between his teeth when Harry moved, flipping him over so he was lying flat on his back on the bed. Harry pressed down from his vantage point above Draco, pinning him to the bed much more effectively than Draco had managed a few minutes previously. Draco's blood began to pound through his veins, raising his heart rate and causing his breathing to quicken. Harry grinned as he leant in so that their lips were almost touching.

 

“You’ve always been able to get a rise out of me just by talking; why would I not assume he got it from you?”

 

The double meaning of Harry’s words did not escape Draco. He reacted instinctively, spreading his thighs so Harry could settle against him properly. The triumphant grin that spread across Harry’s face made it unnecessary for Draco to respond, as he knew that whatever he could say at that point would sound pathetic in comparison to responding physically. Tangling a hand into Harry’s hair, he pulled him down into a harsh kiss, sucking and nipping at Harry’s bottom lip until he opened for him. It wasn’t long before they were both breathing heavily and moving unconsciously against each other.

 

“Draco…”

 

He shivered as Harry drew his name out against his lips. With slightly shaking hands and a fair amount of help from Harry, Draco managed to get them both completely naked with Harry still above him. He knew exactly what it was he wanted, now that Harry had prompted him into it. Taking himself in hand, Draco attempted to hold steady as he watched Harry stroking himself to his full length, but it was proving difficult. When he could no longer wait, he mumbled the preparation charms and placed his other hand on one of Harry’s hips. Guiding him slowly downwards, Draco held his breath. It had been quite a while since Harry had ridden him and he was certain that the sensation would work him up much faster than usual, due to the unusual feeling of being pinned by Harry’s weight. He only released the breath once Harry was fully settled on top of him.

 

“Harry…”

 

Staring up at him through glazed eyes, Draco's breathing hitched again. He honestly had no idea what good he had done in his past lives that had caused him to be lucky enough to deserve Harry in this one, but he was _so_ grateful for it. Flexing his hands on Harry’s hips, he attempted to steady his breathing, despite knowing that he was doomed to fail.

 

“I–”

 

“Move.”

 

It seemed Harry had only been waiting for Draco's command. He set a fast pace, leaning forward with his hands placed on either side of Draco's shoulders on the bed, his eyes closed and mouth open as he panted. Draco took it all in with a touch of amazement. The very fact that someone even remotely _like_ Harry could fall for him – actually _want_ to be with him – was nothing short of a miracle for Draco, but for it to be Harry himself… Draco shivered as his hips jerked of their own accord. Stuttering out the lubrication charm, he reached for Harry’s cock, stroking him as he moved on top of him.

 

“ _Fuck_ … Fuck, I…”

 

Draco's hips jerked again, causing Harry to groan deep in his throat. Tightening his grip, Draco twisted his hand, needing to know that Harry was satisfied before he took his own pleasure.

 

“Come, Harry…”

 

All it took for Harry to oblige was another jerk of Draco's hips. He froze on top of him, his mouth open in a silent scream as he coated Draco's hand and chest with his release. The spasming of Harry’s muscles around him was just enough for Draco, who followed him through into orgasm with a deep groan of his own. Harry landed on top of him a few seconds later, pressing Draco down into the mattress. Draco was just about asleep when Harry’s voice startled him awake.

 

“You can keep the shirts; they look better on you anyway.”

 

The laugh Draco let out in response sounded tired even to him. “I always intended to.”

 

“Of course you did.”

 

With that, Harry waved his hand to extinguish the lights, then again to clean them both up. He attempted to move off to his side of the bed, but Draco tightened his grip around his waist, forcing him to stay where he was, half-on and half-off of him.

 

“Stay.”

 

“Whatever you want.”

 

Draco fell asleep to Harry’s steady breathing right beside him.


	29. Chapter 29

The slide of the greenhouse door wouldn’t have been evident to many people. Draco, however, was so used to the regular sounds of his greenhouse that he immediately registered the slight scrape against the dirt floor. Tilting his head to the side, he listened carefully, trying to work out who it was that had disturbed him. It obviously wasn’t Harry, as he had gone into the Foundation early that morning to sort out some paperwork that had been waiting for him. It was highly unlikely to be Astoria either, as Draco knew for a fact that she hardly ever bothered to try to sneak when she entered his greenhouse. That left one of the children, unless someone had managed to make it onto the Manor grounds without triggering the wards.

 

Light footsteps moved over to the soft chairs that Draco had set up just off to the left of the door in this greenhouse. When the squeak of someone’s weight landing on the middle chair sounded, Draco smiled. He kept his eyes pinned on the Fanged Geraniums he was repotting, however, knowing that if he allowed his attention to wander too far, he would most likely end up being bitten; an experience that he had no desire to repeat. His mind raced, trying to work out why Scorpius – as it was him who made the most sense to step into Draco's greenhouse uninvited – would just walk in and seat himself without saying a word. Thankfully, the Fanged Geraniums never took too long to repot and he was soon wiping the dirt from his hands on a cloth he kept on the bench.

 

“Draco?”

 

Shock rushed through Draco's chest when he glanced up to see James perched on the very edge of the chair, his hands clenched on the seat. Tossing the cloth aside, Draco moved swiftly around to the front of his workbench, sudden worry causing his hands to clench.

 

“James? What’s wrong? Has something happened to one of the others?”

 

Draco was halfway across the greenhouse and just about to fall to his knees before James so he could see his eyes when James sat up straight. Almost stumbling to a stop when James held a hand up, Draco's stomach felt as though it had dropped down into his shoes.

 

“Nothing’s wrong… Well not exactly.”

 

Standing a few steps from James, Draco stared down at him with mounting concern. He was completely unable to prevent his mind from jumping straight to the worst-case scenarios, despite James’ words. Following his instincts, Draco knelt down in front of him anyway and ducked his head so he could get a proper look at James’ face.

 

“What do you mean by ‘not exactly’?” His mind raced quickly through all of the things that could have happened while Harry was not there for James to speak to about whatever was wrong, but he came up almost completely blank. “Is it to do with the Healer you’ve been seeing? Has something happened with–”

 

Draco's mouth snapped shut when James sat back in the chair and grinned. The grin made him look almost as though he was bordering on hysteria, but the short laugh that followed could have come from any nervous teenage boy; James’ voice even cracked a little when he spoke again soon after.

 

“No, no, it’s not that…” He paused to run a hand through his hair, making it stand on end in the same way Harry’s always did. “Look, can I talk to you? Like, properly talk and not have you go running off to Dad or my Grandmother the second you see them again?”

 

The wariness that entered James’ eyes as he spoke sent sympathy shooting straight through Draco, but his mind latched onto something else rather than the boy in front of him. Could this be a confession of what the boys had been doing over the past few weeks? Could James have finally decided that whatever it was they were up to was too dangerous for three boys to be messing around with? He was the eldest of them after all; maybe the pressure of what they were doing had finally gotten to him? Flexing his clenched hands in order to relieve some of the stress racing through him, Draco offered up what he hoped was a sincere smile.

 

“Of course you can. I swear I won’t say a word to your Father or Grandmother unless I think it _absolutely_ necessary that they know.” When James rolled his eyes, Draco smiled properly. “I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can offer. If I think you need to tell your Father, I’ll tell you so you can tell him yourself, but I won’t keep secrets from him.”

 

Draco watched as something strange flashed through James’ eyes, but he said nothing, waiting silently while James considered his offer. It didn’t take long.

 

“I – that’s what I…” James sighed and waved a hand towards the chair to his right. “If what I say isn’t bad, you’ll keep it to yourself, though, right?” He waited for Draco to nod before continuing. “Alright, it’s a deal.”

 

Despite the nerves and suspicions rushing through him, Draco found himself incredibly curious about whatever it was that James was apparently about to confess. Pushing himself to his feet, he waved his wand towards the hidden cool room he had had installed in this particular greenhouse the day he had moved the chairs in. He had figured at the time that there was no point in having the luxury of comfortable chairs if he had nothing to drink and had found himself incredibly thankful that he had thought to include it. Taking the chair to James’ right as he had indicated, Draco caught the two bottles of Butterbeer he had Summoned and silently handed one over.

 

“Thanks. I, um… Look, what I want to talk about really isn’t _bad_ alright?” James flipped the lid off the bottle and took a deep swig of the Butterbeer before continuing. “I’ve just been thinking… And I’ve talked to Healer Kendall about it as well, so it isn’t something that I haven’t properly _thought_ about either… But…”

 

Draco's stomach squirmed with nervous energy as James trailed off again. If this was something that he had discussed with the Healer that Harry had had him seeing since _that_ incident with Ginevra – as Draco had taken to thinking of it – then it was obviously nothing to do with whatever trouble he, Al and Scorpius had been getting into recently. His hand clenched around the neck of his bottle. He was certain that he wouldn’t be able to deal with whatever this was if James admitted to having been up to something else that would put either himself or one of the other children in danger. Draco knew for a fact that there was only a certain amount of stress that a body could deal with before breaking and he thought that he was rapidly reaching that point when it came to their boys. If this was something else dangerous, then he would most likely have to break his promise to James and simply Apparate directly the Foundation to collect Harry and bring him back to deal with his son. Taking a steadying breath, Draco flipped the top off the Butterbeer and sat back in his chair, imitating his usual calm exterior.

 

“You know you could tell me even if it was something bad?” It was a pathetic attempt at trying to suggest that James could tell him everything he had been up to and Draco knew it. “Considering everything I’ve done over the years, I wouldn’t judge you.”

 

“No, no… I mean, _yeah_ , I kind of figured that from everything that Scorp has told us about you and Tori, but… It’s not a bad thing. I’m not…” He shook his head and huffed out a breath that sounded incredibly frustrated. “I try to not be a bad kid.”

 

Draco's breath left him in a rush at the almost whispered words. The meaning of James’ words hit him with a force that made it slightly difficult for him to catch his breath as his chest constricted in sympathy. If James had been discussing his behaviour with his therapist, then there really was only one person that this discussion could revolve around. Draco was damn sure that he was the one adult in James’ life who was completely unqualified for him to have this discussion with, considering the fact that there was absolutely no way he could be subjective on the topic. Still, he had made a promise to James, so he merely sat there silently for a few seconds, trying to suppress his own feelings over what he suspected was coming.

 

“You aren’t a bad kid, James,” Draco stated equally as quietly as James had spoken. “No one thinks you are.”

 

Draco watched as James opened his mouth and took a deep breath, obviously in preparation of saying something back, but he subsided in the next few seconds. It was such a strange reaction that Draco couldn’t help beginning to catalogue any physical changes he could make out in James’ appearance. If there really was something wrong beyond what James was about to confess to him, then Draco would make sure that James didn’t keep it to himself and physical changes were one of the first signs of mental stress. That was something that he had learned firsthand after the end of the War. He almost jumped when James actually spoke again.

 

“That’s something I’ve been speaking to Healer Kendall about. I… She says that I’m not to blame for Mum and Dad not getting along anymore. And before you say anything, I do actually believe her.” James paused to flash Draco a look that told him that he knew that Draco had been about to pipe in with reassurances that Harry and Ginevra’s divorce was not his fault. “No one is to blame there; not really. If Dad had maybe known that he was gay, then things would have worked out differently. I understand that. But that’s not what I want to talk about.”

 

Draco's insides squirmed again when James paused. There was a part of Draco's mind just screaming that James should get on with it; that it was better to just come out and say what was on your mind rather than drawing it out this long. Another part of his brain, unfortunately enough for him, was countering that argument with a line that sounded quite logical to Draco: _I do not wish to speak about Ginevra ever again._ He had known that she would always be a background part of Harry’s life, because he had known that Harry could never be cruel enough to cut her off from her children completely. That did not mean that Draco himself was ready to have an open and frank discussion about her with her son; especially the son whom she had basically rejected directly to his face. He figured it may very well be counterproductive to James’ therapy sessions if he was subjected to Draco's true thoughts about his Mother. But then, this was the very first time that James had sought him out specifically to speak to about anything, so there was yet another part of Draco's mind rejoicing over the progress they had managed to make since their first, rather volatile encounters. There really was nothing for it: Draco took a deep breath and prepared himself to be the mature, responsible adult he was supposed to be in these situations.

 

“You wish to speak to me about your Mother.”

 

“Is that alright? I mean, I’ll understand if you say no, but Dad and Grandma are both so angry when it comes to Mum that I don’t really want to make it worse and Al and my cousins are useless. You know all they’re really interested in are girls or Quidditch?” The exasperated tone to James’ voice had Draco smiling in response, but he didn’t get the chance to respond before James was speaking again. “And, well, Healer Kendall says that I really should be making an effort here rather than just letting things happen. So…”

 

Warmth spread through Draco as James turned to cast a questioning look his way. James had taken the first tentative step, now it was time for him to step up.

 

“You can tell me anything you want to about your Mother, if you wish, Jamie. Nothing you say will leave this room unless you give me express permission.”

 

Those were the words that James had apparently been waiting for. Speaking rapidly enough that Draco had a slight problem keeping up, he seemed to unload with months of fears and thoughts and theories on what he could have done differently or how he could have reacted differently. It was obvious that Draco's role there was only as a willing ear, but he figured that, considering the subject matter, it was probably for the best. Keeping James supplied with cold bottles of Butterbeer, he simply listened to everything he came out with, chiming in only when James paused and cast a glance over to him, almost as though looking for reassurance on what he had just said. Draco's stomach was grumbling by the time James slowed down.

 

“Draco?” James’ voice was a little rough and Draco automatically Summoned a leaf from a plant that he knew would fix it almost immediately. “Thanks.” Taking a deep breath, James turned to face Draco, seeming to steel himself for what he was about to say. “Healer Kendall wants me to try seeing Mum before I go back to Hogwarts.”

 

Pressing his lips together, Draco released his breath loudly through his nose. “Do you want to see her again?”

 

“I don’t know!” Throwing himself back against the chair, James let out a gusty sigh. “I know that she has said that she wants to see us all again. Grandma has already said that she can take us when we want to, because I know that Dad doesn’t want to see her again. But…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

 

“But after everything that has happened, you don’t know whether you want to open it all up again?”

 

The look that James sent him in response held such sorrow in it that Draco was hard-pressed to not just move over and scoop James into his arms and tell him that everything would be alright. Instead, he held James’ gaze, not flinching away when he let out a frustrated-sounding growl.

 

“She’s my _Mum_.”

 

“Yes, she is.”

 

“But…”

 

“But you are under absolutely no obligation to see her if you don’t think you can deal with it. However, if you do wish to see her again, then know that both your Father and I will stand behind your decision and not try to prevent it in any way. You have just as much right to go visit her if you wish to as you do to _not_ visit her if that is what you decide upon.”

 

James merely sat and stared at Draco for a long while, seeming to appraise him. Eventually, he sighed.

 

“You’re not going to tell me what I should do.” It was more of a statement than a question. “Nearly any other adult would, you know.”

 

Draco cocked his head to the side as he considered James’ words. “I know what it is like to have… shall we call it a _difficult_ family? I have only just met my one remaining Aunt because she and my Mother weren’t on speaking terms for my entire life. My other Aunt was killed by your Grandmother during the Final Battle and no one rightly knows what happened to her husband; most people simply hope he is dead.” He smiled when James’ eyes widened at his frankness. “So, no, I cannot tell you what you should do in this kind of situation. What I can tell you is to follow what your instincts tell you to do. If you believe that you are ready to face your Mother after everything that has happened, then by all means, go see her. If not, however, then don’t try to force yourself. You will only end up miserable if you try to force yourself to do something you don’t wish to.”

 

James was silent for a long while, seeming to evaluate what Draco had told him. By the time he looked back up again, the determination on his face told Draco that he had come to a decision.

 

“I think Dad’s right about you, you know,” he stated as he stood up from his chair and stretched. “You are _really_ smart.”

 

With that, he tossed his empty bottle towards the bin and almost bounced out of the greenhouse, leaving Draco sitting alone. Taking what seemed to be his first deep breath for the past few hours, Draco let it out slowly. He knew that trying to relax the muscles that had bunched up as his anxiety levels had risen was probably a lost cause, but he could feel the tension slowly draining from him. He may not have been able to get what the boys had been up to out of James, but it did feel as though they had made some form of breakthrough in their relationship. Knowing that James was willing to come to him with concerns had to be a good thing, right? Draco's knees cracked when he stood to throw his own empty bottle towards the bin, causing him to wince.

 

“You’re getting old.”

 

“Bite me, Potter.”

 

The bottle smashed when it landed in the bin, but Draco's focus was now pinned to where Harry stood in the doorway, a smug smirk on his face. The tight fitting trousers Harry favoured for work were a favourite of Draco's as well, but he figured it was for a completely different reason.

 

“Tori says the two of you have been in here since early this morning?” Harry huffed out a low chuckle when Draco stepped forward and ran his hands over his collar, straightening it instead of responding. “Is everything alright?”

 

Unable to prevent the wide smile that he gave when he thought back over the morning, Draco curled his hands into Harry’s collar and pulled him in for a soft kiss. “Everything’s fine. He just wanted someone to listen to him.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

The concern that shone clearly through in Harry’s eyes had Draco's smile widening. “I’m certain. You know I’d tell you if anything was properly wrong.”

 

“Well, no. You’d probably scream it at me in between hexes.”

 

“Hexes that you would rightfully deserve, no doubt.”

 

“Oh, yeah, no doubt.”

 

Draco grinned when Harry laced their hands together and drew him out of the greenhouse. The last of his worry seemed to dissipate for the time being in the hot summer weather as he followed Harry back to the house.


	30. Chapter 30

Tuesday morning saw Harry wandering slowly down through the grounds of the Manor, searching for what Lily termed ‘the most perfect place to have a picnic’. She had been insisting on all six of them going on a picnic together, but the three boys had been reluctant, so they had compromised: they would stay on the Manor grounds where the boys would be allowed to roam as they saw fit. Harry was certain that he had already seen Scorp and Al scheming together just before they left, their heads bent together and whispering quickly. What it could be over was something that had been playing on Harry’s mind for the past twenty minutes as they walked.

 

Considering they only had four days before the wedding, Harry’s nerves over what the boys could be up to had been escalating. He and Draco had run through every scenario they could come up with over and over again the night before, but they still hadn’t been able to come to any solid decisions for what they could do. Neither had Ron or Hermione when Harry had spoken to them over the weekend. Smiling as Lily shot past him, chasing Bastet once again, he decided that just for that morning he was going to pretend that what was going on with the boys didn’t exist. He was going to have fun with his kids and Draco just as they had originally planned before this had all started.

 

“Lily,” he called out the second she stopped running. She turned to face him, Bastet struggling in her arms. “There’s a duck pond just over that way.”

 

Pointing off to his right, Harry grinned when she took off again, still holding Bastet. The cat’s fluffy tail flopped over Lily’s arm as she ran, providing Lily with what appeared from the back to be a rather hairy scarf.

 

“I almost feel sorry for that cat.”

 

Harry automatically slowed his steps so Draco could catch up to him. “Considering Bastet doesn’t really seem to think that she needs an owner, I’d say they are both worthy of sympathy.”

 

Draco's responding laugh sent a shot of warmth through Harry’s stomach. It was so nice to see him so happy and relaxed that Harry could almost hold true to his decision to not think about what the boys were up to and just pretend that everything was alright. _Almost_.

 

“Nothing has happened with the lockbox? No one’s tried to get into it?” The good humour that the short laugh had brought to Draco's face faded quickly at Harry’s question, causing him to immediately regret asking. “I mean, not that I think they will try to get into it, I just–”

 

“Have never been this worried about what your children are doing?” The knowing look that Draco shot him had Harry ducking his head as a slight blush tinted his cheeks. “Believe me, Harry, I feel the same way. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, but…” He paused, shaking his head. “Are we absolutely certain that we aren’t blowing this out of proportion?”

 

Unable to help himself, Harry sighed. “You’ve been talking to Astoria again, haven’t you?”

 

“She makes a convincing argument.”

 

Harry nodded. “She does and she almost had me convinced that this is nothing when we were first trying to decide what to do about it, but I just can’t–”

 

“I know, I know,” Draco interrupted with a frustrated sigh.

 

It was a discussion they had been having over the past fortnight that always ended in one of them getting the huffs with the other. They went around and around in circles, repeating their stances on what was going on but never once deciding on anything. Taking a breath and letting it out slowly, Harry shook his head.

 

“Sorry. I know I’m repeating myself. I did decide that I wasn’t going to bring this up today, but apparently I can’t help it.”

 

“As is only right with a parent who is afraid for his children, but–”

 

Draco was cut off abruptly by the sound of a shriek and a huge splash followed by shouts of laughter. The two of them took off for the pond where Harry had sent Lily a few minutes before. Harry had the brief sense that he really shouldn’t have been stupid enough to send Lily running off behind the group of trees in front of them that hid the pond, but he knew it was too late. It took them less than a minute to reach it and when they did, Harry had to stop to take in the scene before him. All three boys were standing at the edge of the pond, almost doubled over laughing as Lily spluttered in the water while Bastet sat a few meters from them, glaring for all she was worth between trying to clean what was obviously duck pond water from her fur. He sighed again.

 

“What happened?”

 

“Dad did you _see_ that?” Al gasped out. “She just went straight in! Almost head first!”

 

“Because _you_ threw my cat in!” Lily staggered up out of the water, her clothing dripping wet and her shoes caked in mud. “I didn’t know if she could swim!”

 

“I didn’t throw the stupid cat in, I swear!” Al stood up straight and met Harry’s eyes with no hesitation. “I can’t even get near the bloody thing or it’ll scratch me to death!”

 

“Watch your language, Albus,” Harry responded without even thinking about it.

 

Knowing that he would probably never learn exactly what had happened to cause Lily and Bastet to fall into the duck pond, he set about getting each of the children sorted out. He cast drying and refreshing charms at Lily, instructed James and Al to start setting up the picnic they had brought with them and asked Scorpius to find some fallen branches so they could transfigure them into seats. Through it all, Lily and Al took little shots at each other, making snide remarks about cats or Quidditch skills. It was not the start to the picnic that Harry had wanted to have, but he figured that anything that drove his attention away from worrying about the boys could only be a good thing.

 

“You really actually like giving out instructions, don’t you?”

 

Harry grinned as he turned to where Draco stood behind him, his arms crossed across his chest. “Only when they’re followed.”

 

“Tell me why you never took up McGonagall’s offer to teach then?”

 

With one last check on Al and James, Harry turned to stroll over to where Draco stood in the shade of one of the many copses of trees that littered the Manor grounds. With the sunlight filtering through the leaves, Draco's pale hair seemed to almost be glowing in places. Harry grinned as Draco reached for him seemingly automatically once he reached him. Allowing himself to be drawn close enough to Draco so he could press their lips together briefly, Harry hummed contentedly.

 

“I’m really not sure I could deal with that many children every day.”

 

It took a few seconds for Draco to respond and when he did there was a strange tone to his voice. “Harry,” he began slowly, sounding almost as though he thought he was speaking to someone with a limited mental capacity. “You own an _orphanage_.”

 

Stepping back a little so he could see Draco's eyes, Harry tilted his head to the side. “Well, yes, but–”

 

“An orphanage that is connected to both a children’s medical centre _and_ a day-care centre.”

 

“I know that, but–”

 

“You actually chose to open these things, you know. No one forced you; it was entirely your own decision.” When Harry opened his mouth to respond, Draco grinned briefly and continued, raising his voice a little so Harry’s objections were drowned out. “And the children you look after there are under a lot more pressure than the ones at Hogwarts, you know. They’re also a lot younger in some cases, which can be much worse than hormone-driven teenagers, especially if they need special medical attention.”

 

Harry waited a few seconds after Draco had stopped talking before raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you done?”

 

Cocking his head to the side in the same way Harry had a few seconds before, Draco grinned again. “I am. Please, proceed.”

 

Rolling his eyes as Draco swept his hand in a grand gesture, Harry shook his head. “Are you absolutely certain? I’m sure you could go on and on for days if you really put your mind to it.”

 

A crunching sound heralded Scorpius’ arrival through the trees, the fallen leaves and branches cracking beneath his shoes. Harry grinned when Draco's mouth – which had been open to respond –  snapped shut with a click. Scorpius carried a bunch of larger branches that Harry knew would be easy to transfigure into seats for the lot of them, but it was the look on his face that caught Harry’s attention. His grey eyes flicked back and forth between Harry and Draco before shooting briefly off to where James and Al stood by the picnic blanket. The glance over to the others was the shortest of moments, but it sent a shiver of suspicion down Harry’s spine.

 

“Scorp?” Both Scorpius and Harry jumped at the sound of Draco's voice. “Do you have enough?”

 

It became obvious to Harry fairly rapidly that either Draco hadn’t noticed Scorpius’ eyes flicking over to James and Al, or that he had imagined the tiny movement. It certainly seemed that neither James nor Al had had any kind of reaction to Scorpius arriving back other than to include him in their game of attempting to one-up each other with tales of what they had supposedly gotten up to in their spare time at school. Perhaps Harry was imagining it. Or perhaps he was simply losing his mind. As no one else was reacting to it, however, he decided to simply ignore the sensation. Stepping up to where Scorpius had dropped the pile of branches, he took half of them from Draco and transfigured them quickly into passable seats.

 

It took a while for everyone to get settled down on their makeshift seats and to begin to pile food onto their plates and even longer for Harry to convince Lily to stop calling out to Bastet, who was sitting a few meters away from them with a disgruntled look on her face. Eventually, though, he was able to glance around at his family eating peacefully together. It was a sight that Harry knew he would never get sick of, even if he did continue to catch either Al or James pelting Bastet or Lily with bits of food.

 

“So what’s going to happen with the rehearsal on Thursday, Dad?”

 

Harry chewed and swallowed as rapidly as he could manage without choking. “Well,” he began, before glancing over to Draco when he realised that he had no real idea. “I, er… Draco?”

 

With a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head, Draco began explaining. “We will all gather in the church – which is close to one of my parent’s summer homes in Tuscany – and run through the ceremony. We won’t bother with the clothing, but we will each have roles to play–”

 

“Like groom?”

 

Draco shot Scorpius a _look_ before continuing in a sardonic tone. “Yes, like groom, Scorp.” He paused to take a sip of his water. “James and Scorpius will both be groomsmen; Albus will be an usher, showing each new arrival to their seat; and Lily will be a flower girl. Both Ronald and Blaise will be the best men for Harry and I respectively, so they will have to be part of this rehearsal as well. I assume Ronald knows?”

 

“Yeah, I even told Hermione so he won’t forget.”

 

“Good.” The efficiency that Draco was explaining everything with was beginning to cause Harry’s mind to spin with all the details, but he knew that Draco would never allow him to forget anything about the plans they had made. “The rehearsal will cover everything that will happen during the ceremony and everyone will be expected to be on their best behaviour.” This was obviously directed at the three boys, but even Lily nodded in silent agreement with them. “I am unsure whether Ronald will be bringing Rose and Hugo, but Blaise will have Carmel with him, so you all should have enough to distract you from the boredom I am sure you will all be feeling by the end of the ceremony.”

 

Harry couldn’t help frowning a little when both Al and Scorp shot James strange looks. His automatic thought was that this had something to do with their plans, but it seemed he was definitely wrong this time, as a deep blush was spreading rapidly across James’ face.

 

“Jamie?”

 

“What?”

 

The defensiveness to James’ tone caught Harry a little off-guard and he blinked in silence for a few seconds in response. It seemed that he wasn’t going to get a chance to question him, however, as James shoved himself to his feet, shot Al a dirty look and stomped off towards the pond. Harry made to go after him, but a gentle hand placed on his arm prevented him.

 

“I’m not sure _this_ is something you want to be involved in.”

 

Harry’s eyes locked with Draco's before he glanced back to James. Confusion still fluttered through him until the sound of Al and Scorpius snickering reached his ears.

 

“James _likes_ Carmel, doesn’t he, Scorp?”

 

“I do not!”

 

Harry watched as James spun and glared at his brother. His eyebrows felt as though they were trying to take up residence in his hairline as he watched Al teasing James and James obviously trying to not pull out his wand and hex him.

 

“James and Carmel?”

 

His voice was low, but it seemed Draco heard him anyway. The hand holding him from standing up tightened for a few seconds before vanishing.

 

“You cannot be trying to tell me you never liked anyone during school?”

 

“Not when I was thirteen,” Harry hissed in an attempt to not allow James to hear him.

 

Draco's low chuckle grabbed Harry’s attention for a few seconds from the squabble in front of him. “You were so far in the closet you didn’t get a crush on _anyone_?”

 

The amusement clear on Draco's face caused pleasure to ripple up Harry’s spine and the desire to teach him a lesson to burst in his chest. Leaning close, he grinned when Draco's breath hitched.

 

“I remember a pair of determined grey eyes and a set of long fingers attempting to grasp the Snitch before me being things I focussed on quite a bit.”

 

The words were whispered so none of the children heard him and he leant back quickly just in case any of them happened to glance over to them. The effect they had on Draco was instant: a bright pink began to spread across his pale cheekbones just before he ducked his head to cover it up.

 

“Damn you, Potter.”

 

“I probably am, yes.”

 

“Am what, Dad?”

 

A quiet chuckle from Draco had Harry shaking his head as he scrambled to answer Lily. “Er… Going to look for Bastet, Lils. Want to come?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Lily grabbed his hand and dragged him to his feet. She moved off towards the trees where Scorpius had found the branches, calling out to Harry to hurry up, ‘or else they would probably _never_ find her!’ Harry remembered to grab James, just to get him away from his brother and any potential conflict they were building up to. Steering James away from Al and Scorpius, he cast one last look in Draco's direction. The pink of the blush was still staining his cheeks, but there was such warmth in his eyes that Harry couldn’t help smiling wide in response.

 

“We’ll continue this later.”

 

“I’ll look forward to it.”

 

Exactly what it was they were going to continue, Harry had no idea, but he found himself rather looking forward to it as well.


	31. Chapter 31

“Tell me again why we are not just Apparating?”

 

Draco didn’t even bother to try to prevent the roll of his eyes. “Of course you should feel free to attempt to Apparate all the way to Tuscany with an under-aged child in tow, Blaise,” he responded as he continued to adjust his robes in the mirror of his and Harry’s bedroom. “I, however, would much prefer to take the safer option and use the floo that the church has kindly opened to us.”

 

A deep sigh was Blaise’s only response for a little while, giving Draco the time to finish buttoning and adjusting his robes in peace. When he was finally satisfied, he turned to face the bed. Blaise was lounging on one of the soft chairs that usually sat in the small room that led into the bedroom, his long legs resting on the bedspread and crossed at the ankles. Draco eyed them with mild distaste for a few seconds, earning himself a quiet chuckle.

 

“Afraid my filthy feet will mar your pristine bed?” He removed his feet slowly, taking the time to flick invisible dirt off what were obviously expensive Italian loafers. “Don’t try and pull that haughty pureblood bullshit with me, Draco. I know the kinds of things you have done in the past; my feet are probably the cleanest things that have been in your bed.”

 

With a small smile, Draco allowed himself to relax a little. It wasn’t often that he and Blaise got some time alone, just the two of them, and he was finding that he had missed both him and the easy way they fell back into conversation, no matter how long it had been. Flicking his hand at Blaise’s shoes as he made his way past, Draco grinned.

 

“I don’t know about that one anymore, you know…”

 

Draco left the sentence open, waiting to see whether Blaise would take the bait. He was rewarded a few seconds later by the sound of Blaise sighing.

 

“I absolutely refuse to believe that Potter was _that_ innocent when the two of you finally found your way to a bed.”

 

Draco couldn’t help laughing as he perched on the side of the bed facing Blaise. “Obviously not innocent, no, because he has three children. However, I have strong reason to believe that there was only one man before me and that it was about twenty years ago.”

 

Blaise was quiet for a few seconds. “Just one?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“ _Fuck_ … You know, I haven’t been with a virgin in years?”

 

“He wasn’t a virgin, Blaise.”

 

“He was damn close to and that’s closer than I’ve gotten in years, you lucky bastard.” Blaise shook his head emphatically when Draco began to laugh. “Don’t just brush off this stroke of luck, Draco. Do you know how difficult it is to find a woman these days who will sleep with me and do as I ask without making it into some kind of kinky thing? I don’t want to be fucking spanked, or choked, or to have some giant horse of a woman standing over me with a whip; all I want is someone I can teach to pleasure me. Is that too much to ask?”

 

Feeling his top lip curl in disgust, Draco shook his head. “That is not something I have ever wanted to know, Blaise.”

 

“But now that you do, if you happen to find someone–”

 

“I’m not going to act as your fucking pimp, Zabini!”

 

“I’m not asking you to, _Malfoy_.” Blaise’s lips quirked up into a smirk when Draco sighed. “All I’m saying is that if you _do_ happen to find someone who might fit that description, then send her my way. Is that too much to ask?”

 

Dropping his head so he could scrub a hand along the back of his neck, Draco let out another sigh. “This was really not the way that I imagined this day was going to start, you know. Why are you talking to _me_ about this?”

 

“Because in my absence, he gets desperate.”

 

Both Draco and Blaise jumped at the sound of Pansy’s voice in the doorway of the bedroom. Spinning around, Draco took in the sight of her standing in the doorway, her arms crossed across her chest. She had a satisfied little smirk on her face that had Draco automatically rolling his eyes.

 

“You’ve been getting Blaise laid?”

 

“Well, Draco, _you_ always preferred to find your own fun, so I had to focus my matchmaking talents elsewhere, didn’t I?”

 

“Oh yes, I’m sure I’ve missed out on some absolutely stellar men due to not thinking that you could find me one better than I could.” Draco couldn’t help the touch of sarcasm to his voice. “Exactly which one of Blaise’s ex-wives was your fault?”

 

The pointed heels of Pansy’s shoes clacked on the floor as she slowly entered the room. It appeared to Draco as though she was studying the two of them, although why, he had no idea. Shooting Blaise a quick glance, he raised an eyebrow, but the only response he got was a small shake of Blaise’s head. He allowed Pansy to make her way to the end of the bed before giving her a pointed look.

 

“Number two was ‘my fault’, if you absolutely insist on assigning blame.” Draco could hear the quotation marks she spoke with. “But why are we speaking about Blaise’s romantic disasters when Draco here is getting married again in two days?”

 

The knowing look she shot Draco when he let out a quiet breath had his stomach dropping into his shoes. He had been very determinedly focussing more on the fact that they still had to get through the rehearsal and the next day before the wedding for the simple fact that every time he thought about the upcoming wedding, he found himself almost overcome with nerves. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to marry Harry, or that he thought it was a bad idea, but the very idea of standing up in front of all of their family and friends and saying his vows absolutely terrified him for some reason. How Pansy had worked out just how nervous the idea of getting married again made him was beyond Draco and he was unsure whether it was a good thing or not. Offering her an extremely polite smile, he gestured to the end of the bed.

 

“Why don’t you have a seat, Pans? And please, feel free to choose a subject other than the wedding to discuss.”

 

It took Pansy a few seconds to get herself settled, but both Draco and Blaise stayed dutifully quiet. It was odd, Draco reflected, just how easy it was for Pansy to grab both of their attention and hold it until she was ready to speak again, but he had never questioned it. When she finally got herself settled properly, Pansy looked between the two of them, a smile spreading slowly across her face.

 

“So, let me get this straight,” she began. “You don’t want to discuss Blaise’s sex life and you don’t want me to discuss the wedding. Is that correct?”

 

Draco could feel himself being drawn into some kind of trap, but knew he was helpless to prevent it. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to just sit in silence while I finish getting ready?”

 

“Draco…”

 

There was a tone to Pansy’s voice that said, very distinctly, ‘be reasonable’. He sighed and scrubbed his hand through his hair again, knowing that there was no way he could win against her.

 

“Fine, go right ahead.”

 

Standing so he could continue with the finishing touches to his outfit, Draco listened carefully to Blaise and Pansy chatting. Despite her words, Pansy actually kept away from the subject of the wedding. In fact, it seemed like she was much more interested in interrogating Blaise about various aspects of the Italian wizarding politics, leaving Draco to himself for the time being. He knew he should have known that it was too good to be true; he knew that he should have been more on his guard for random questions than he was. But he simply wasn’t.

 

“So why are you afraid to marry Potter, Draco?”

 

The question was aimed at him the second he finished fussing with his hair and clothing and had made his way over to sit on the edge of the bed again. Pansy had claimed his previous position and was actually leaning back against the headboard, looking as though she owned the entire place. The smile she shot him could only be called predatory when he glanced up at her with what he assumed was a look of complete shock.

 

“I’m not,” he blurted out automatically before he had time to think. His words seemed to surprise Blaise, but Pansy just raised an eyebrow at him until he was composed enough to being to speak again. “I have never once questioned this marriage and you know it. Standing up in front of seemingly every single person I have ever met to declare undying devotion, however…”

 

“Ah, your fear of showing any emotion beyond contempt.” Pansy offered up a knowing smile when Draco looked at her, but seemed almost hesitant to elaborate on the statement. “Has he shown any disinclination to marry you?”

 

“Of course not.” Draco could feel his brows drawing down into a scowl as insult tightened his chest. Without thinking, he leant forward so he could meet Pansy’s eyes. “And I resent the implication that I would have given him any cause to not wish to continue with the marriage.”

 

“Draco–”

 

“No, Blaise, shut-up.” Draco refused to break eye contact with Pansy, who was still gifting him with one of her most annoying smiles. “Why would you question something like that?”

 

“Perhaps I need to know that one of my best friends is making the right choice.”

 

“Bullshit.”

 

“Draco–”

 

“ _Shut-up_ , Blaise.”

 

“You think it’s impossible that I could want to see you happy?”

 

“By questioning Harry’s loyalty to me two days before the wedding? Yes.”

 

“Then perhaps you should ask _him_ why I was so late in getting here today.”

 

“Draco!”

 

“For fuck’s sake, Blaise, _what_?”

 

Turning, Draco watched as Blaise sighed, then pointed towards the doorway with an exasperated look on his face. Rolling his eyes, Draco followed Blaise’s pointed finger. He wasn’t expecting to see much beyond possibly Astoria coming to check on them, but his mind went blank when he got a look at what – _who_ – had caught Blaise’s attention. Harry stood in the doorway to the bedroom, watching their interaction with a slightly stunned expression. Draco's eyes immediately slid closed when it finally dawned on him that Blaise had been trying to warn him that Harry had interrupted them. His mind raced, going over the conversation, but he knew that Harry must have heard all of the important things that had been said.

 

“She spent half an hour interrogating me on my intentions this morning, just in case you were wondering.” Harry’s voice was low and laced with a strange tone that Draco couldn’t quite make out. “That’s why she was late.”

 

The bed dipped in the next few seconds, indicating that Pansy had stood. Forcing his eyes open, Draco met her gaze, searching for an explanation.

 

She gave an elegant shrug. “I had to know.”

 

“Of course you did.”

 

Draco shook his head when she squeezed his shoulder as she moved past him. Blaise followed shortly after her, but not before giving Draco a sympathetic look that had Draco smiling a little in return. His skin tingled with a slight rush of nerves when he was alone with Harry, but he didn’t turn to face him, needing the few seconds to compose himself. The sound of Harry’s shoes thudding across the room towards him caused Draco to take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“You were right, you know.” The footsteps halted just out of Draco's line-of-sight. “I have no reason to question why I want to marry you.”

 

Unable to prevent it, Draco smiled properly. “I didn’t know you were there.”

 

Harry was smiling back at him when he raised his head. Warmth rushed through Draco's chest when Harry rubbed a hand through his hair, a sure indication of his own nerves. Harry shrugged, the movement much less refined than when Pansy had made the same gesture a minute before.

 

“I already knew everything you said to her; she was the only one actually questioning it.”

 

As it was clear that Harry was uncomfortable at either having witnessed what he had, or just with the direction the conversation had taken in general, Draco took pity on him and changed the subject. Standing so he could fuss with Harry’s clothes, he listened to his answer, simply enjoying the sound of his familiar voice. _This_ was much closer to how Draco had imagined the day beginning.

 

*~*

 

“…and with that, I shall declare you both to be married, you shall be asked to kiss your husband and the entire church will applaud.”

 

Harry couldn’t help the excited grin he gave the priest when he finished the explanation of how the wedding would go. In fact, if he was to be truly honest, he hadn’t been able to stop grinning the entire day. If this kept up, he had no idea how he would be able to cope with the actual wedding day, because he was fairly certain that if he smiled any wider, he would strain something.

 

The rehearsal had gone fairly well, considering the number of children who were running around. James and Scorpius had been the best behaved out of all seven of them, but Harry was certain that the only reason they had been on their best behaviour was because both Astoria and Hermione had been standing not too far off the entire practice ceremony. It was unfortunate, but both he and Draco had been a little too distracted by the proceedings to pay much attention to the children that day. But he figured they could be forgiven that one little slip-up, just this once. He was jerked back to reality by the sound of Draco thanking the priest.

 

“It is my pleasure, Mr. Malfoy. I have known your parents for many long years now and I consider it an honour to be the one trusted with marrying their son.”

 

“In that case, you must call me Draco.”

 

Harry couldn’t help smiling once again as he listened to Draco interacting with the elderly priest. The rest of the wedding party had moved off and were milling around the church, but Harry found himself reluctant to leave Draco's side. He glanced around the church instead, taking in the high, arched ceilings and the ornately painted stained-glass windows. The floo that they had used to get there that morning sat in a small backroom of the church, out of sight of any of the congregation. The church itself had surprised Harry when they had arrived, as he had been expecting something large with gilded surfaces everywhere, but this was… nice. It was such a pathetic word to use, but ‘nice’ seemed to fit it perfectly, with its neat rows of pews and slightly faded red carpet leading up to the altar. Harry came back to reality again in time to thank the priest for everything he had done and was going to do for them.

 

“Dad, Dad, can we go play outside?”

 

Harry knelt down when Lily came rushing up to him, the long dress she had insisted on wearing flapping behind her. “As long as there’s an adult out there with you, I don’t see why.”

 

“Thanks!”

 

By the time Lily turned and raced out of the church, Harry found himself standing alone with Draco at the altar of the church. Meeting Draco's eyes, a rush of anticipation hit him with such force that his hands began to tremble slightly. Clenching them automatically, he grinned as he stepped forward.

 

“Two days.”

 

“Two days,” Draco agreed, a smile breaking on his face Harry was certain must equal his own.

 

He flexed his fingers just before he took another small step forward. “And then the reception.”

 

Draco cocked an eyebrow at him. “I would assume you were more looking forward to the honeymoon than the reception.”

 

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am. It’s just…” Harry paused long enough to hook his fingers through the belt loops of the black trousers Draco wore. “You know we haven’t had a chance to dance together since your birthday?” A slightly disbelieving laugh from Draco had Harry grinning again.

 

“Dancing? That’s what you’re looking forward to?”

 

“No,” Harry replied simply as he tugged Draco forward a few steps so they were close enough to almost touch. “Not dancing in general. Dancing with _you_ , however…”

 

He trailed off, allowing Draco to finish the sentence himself. A faint pink tint to Draco's cheeks gave away what he was feeling at that moment, causing Harry to let out a chuckle.

 

“Come on, Harry, you can’t expect me to–”

 

“Have been born with more natural grace and rhythm than I have managed to gain in my entire almost-thirty-eight years? Yes, I can.” Tugging on the belt loops, Harry dragged Draco to his chest. “Say you’ll dance with me.”

 

He couldn’t help letting out another low chuckle when Draco's hands slid, seemingly automatically, around his waist. Leaning forward, he pressed their lips together softly.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Alright.”

 

Pleasure rushed through Harry’s chest at the whispered word. He was just about to drag Draco into another kiss when something deep inside him jerked. Gasping, he stepped backwards, breaking Draco's grip on him.

 

“Harry! Draco!”

 

His heart racing, Harry glanced over to where Draco stood, a wild look in his eyes. The tracking charm; the tugging feeling in his chest had to be being caused by the tracking charm he had placed on the boys.

 

“Harry! Draco!”

 

“The boys?”

 

Harry nodded. “The boys.”

 

The doors at the back of the church crashed open before Harry had a chance to get his thoughts together enough to react further. Astoria and Hermione raced inside, their faces red and breathing hard.

 

“They’re gone; all the children are gone.”

 

“Grimmauld.”

 

Without a second thought, Harry twisted on the spot and left for Islington.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so late! Sorry for that! My internet died completely today and this is the first chance I've had to get on!

“Grimmauld.” With a tiny _pop_ , Harry disappeared.

 

Draco's stomach dropped into his shoes. Now not only were the children in danger, but Harry had just left to barge straight into the middle of the mess, placing himself in the same danger. His fingers scrabbling at the holster on the side of his trousers, he swore sharply when he couldn’t quite manage to get his wand out so he could follow Harry. His heart was racing so fast that he was certain that it was possible for both Astoria and Hermione to hear it at the opposite end of the church where they still stood, Astoria now barking orders, from what it sounded like through the pounding of his pulse in his ears. But he knew he couldn’t focus on that at that moment: he had to get to Grimmauld, stop the boys from hurting themselves and protect Harry from whatever mess he had just Apparated into. A shout from the opposite end of the church nearly distracted him once he managed to draw his wand out of its holster, but he ignored it in favour of preparing to Apparate away.

 

“Draco Lucius Malfoy!”

 

A mere second before he twisted, Draco's attention was drawn back to Astoria, who was storming up the aisle towards him. He stumbled a little as he prevented himself from stepping. Astoria’s wand was clenched tightly in her hand, a detail that Draco focussed on instead of the panic rising rapidly in his chest, needing to distract himself.

 

“What?”

 

“Harry would murder me if I let you Apparate in that condition and you managed to splinch yourself. Come here.”

 

Confusion flooded through Draco's mind as he watched Astoria opening her arms to him. Why the hell she would be more focussed on him than on what their son was doing was beyond him, as he knew that she would be able to feel the tug of the tracking charm that Harry had placed on the boys as well. Shaking his head sharply, he ignored her and clenched his fingers around his wand once again.

 

“Draco!”

 

Astoria stepped up to him and took his hands in her own. It was then that Draco felt the tremble that rippled through him. Glancing down, he watched as his wand shivered in his hand, a hand that shook so badly that he knew Astoria was right to have stopped him.

 

“Tori…”

 

“We’re leaving. Right now.”

 

Another small _pop_ reached Draco's ears just before he felt the tug of Apparition. Tori landed them in the living room of Grimmauld a second later and Draco took off running. He could hear footsteps pounding up the stairs in front of him as he raced, as well as people calling to various children, but he saved his voice, knowing that if he yelled, it would just tire him out even faster. When he reached the second floor, however, he had to pause to shout to Ronald and Blaise – that, at least, explained the pop he had heard just before their own Apparition – that they were on the wrong floor.

 

“Fourth floor. Tracking charm,” he explained as he shoved past them and took the next set of stairs two at a time.

 

Their footsteps pounded behind him, the both of them calling out to their children as well as the others. Being ahead of them, Draco knew that he was the first to hear the first of the responses. His strides lengthened the second he managed to make it to the top floor, just beneath the attic, following the calls of the children. Rounding the corner, Draco fell to his knees and slid as he spotted both James and Lily racing towards them. He had no idea whether it was through relief or exhaustion, but it felt as though his legs had simply given way. Both children ran straight into his arms, James repeating something over and over that Draco couldn’t quite make out over the sound of the reunions of parents and children around him as well as the continued pounding of his own heartbeat in his ears. Running his hands over as much of the children as he could reach without pulling back too far, he cast general Healing charms, just in case.

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. He said it would be a present. I’m sorry…”

 

Draco pulled back a little once he was finally able to make out what James was repeating. Tears streaked his face, making tracks through a substance that Draco had to assume was either smoke residue or dust. The sight didn’t help to ease the fear that was still flooding through his veins

 

“Who said it would be a present, Jamie? Who have you been speaking to?”

 

“Regulus Black.” James paused to swipe a hand across his face, smearing more of the residue over his cheeks. “There’s a tiny portrait of him in the Slytherin dorms that Scorp found. He said that there’s a secret chamber in his room at Grimmauld that has stuff in it that the person who owns Grimmauld now would like to have, but that the only way to open the chamber is by his own voice. We knew that we couldn’t take the portrait with us when we came home, so Scorp, he…”

 

Draco shook his head as everything began to fall into place. “He stole some of my potions to try to alter them to Regulus’ voice so the three of you could open the chamber yourselves. It looks as though he missed, though.” It was rapidly becoming obvious to him that the residue on James’ face had come from whatever protection had been placed on this chamber. James nodded, his eyes wide with what Draco could only assume was fear. Unfortunately, it was a fear that he couldn’t assuage at that moment, not with his own son still in danger and nowhere to be seen. “Where is he now? Is he safe?”

 

James took a few steps back and nodded back towards a room that Harry had explained during their cleaning spree had been Regulus’. The trembling in his hands started anew the second Draco stood. He took a step forward, but was prevented from going any further by a small hand grasping his own.

 

“Draco, I _am_ sorry. We didn’t know, we just wanted to surprise you both…”

 

A few more tears streaked their way down James’ cheeks and he swiped at them with the hem of his shirt. Moving back towards him, Draco again fell to his knees in front of him. Placing his hands on both of James’ shoulders, he looked him in the eye and attempted to give him a reassuring smile.

 

“You’re safe, Jamie; that’s all that matters at the moment.” Draco ran a hand through James’ hair, dislodging a few white flakes of something he couldn’t quite recognise and was unsure he wanted to at that point in time. “Your Aunt and Uncle are just over there. Off you go; they’ll keep you safe.”

 

The fear that was causing Draco's hands to shake hadn’t been diluted by the knowledge that at least two of their kids were safe. His stomach flipped and nausea rose in his throat as he stepped into Regulus’ bedroom. The sight that greeted him didn’t help that feeling: a great, gaping hole in the middle of the floor was the first thing that caught his attention, but it was the people behind the hole in the floor that he focussed on. Albus and Scorpius were sitting on the floor just beneath the windows, with Harry and Astoria kneeling down in front of them. They were both covered head-to-toe in the same black muck that James was coated in and were both shaking hard enough that Draco could see it from his position standing in the doorway. He could hear someone murmuring something, but they were too far away for Draco to be able to make out exactly what was being said. Not that it mattered, as the second Scorpius saw him, he stood and raced across the room, crashing into Draco with a force that caused him to stagger back into the doorjamb.

 

“I’m sorry, Dad, he said… We thought… It was a present; a wedding present. I botched the potion, I know it. It must have been me… I’m _sorry_ …”

 

Scorpius’ voice was low, rough and cracking every few words. It was clear that whatever the black mess was, it had had an effect on Scorpius’ voice, possibly from breathing in whatever it was. Draco had to forcibly unwrap Scorpius’ arms from around his waist so he was able to kneel down in front of him and meet his eyes.

 

“Scorp?”

 

Tears streaked pale tracks down Scorpius’ face, just the same as they had on James’ a minute before. Whether they were real tears or just a reaction to the black substance he was coated with, though, Draco had no idea. Draco automatically cast a cleansing charm, but it didn’t appear to have much effect, as the black mess stayed stubbornly fixed to Scorpius’ skin. He followed it up with a series of Healing and diagnostic charms, making absolutely certain that whatever Scorpius had inhaled hadn’t had any adverse effects on him. When he was totally satisfied that Scorpius wasn’t going to just drop dead in front of him, Draco reached up and manually began to clean the mess from his face using the cuff of his jacket.

 

“Scorp, what happened?”

 

“It was all my fault! That portrait at school said that he had stuff hidden in this room that the owner of Grimmauld would want. When I asked Al about it, he said that the house used to belong to the Black family and that he knew what room it was, so maybe we could get the stuff and use it for a wedding present… I–” Scorpius cut himself off with a frustrated grunt, stepping back away from Draco and stomping his foot hard enough that some of the white flakes that Draco had found in James’ hair floated down to settle in the mess already on the floor. “If I hadn’t messed the potion up, then everything would have been fine! None of the protection spells would have gone off and the smoke wouldn’t have been released and…” Casting Draco a despairing look, Scorpius sighed. “You weren’t supposed to know. Neither was Harry, or Mum. This was supposed to be _our_ present; something special that no one else could find.”

 

Kneeling in the dust and the remnants of the thirty-year-old protection spells that had been set off, all Draco could do was shake his head. The kids had stolen potions, lied to their parents, ran away from the church on their own, and had run the risk of getting themselves seriously injured, but apparently that all paled in the light of being discovered before they could present him and Harry with their wedding present in Scorpius’ mind. It was truly astonishing to Draco's mind that Scorp could think firstly that they wouldn’t have noticed that something was happening, and secondly that the most important thing was that they be able to find whatever was in the chamber. In fact, now that he knew for certain that all of the children were safe and relatively unharmed, Draco found that the worry and fear that had been clouding his mind for the past few minutes – had it only been minutes since they were in Tuscany? – was changing rapidly to a bubbling anger. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he rose to his feet and crossed his arms across his chest.

 

“Scorpius, I–”

 

“Wait, are you _angry_ with me? For _what_?”

 

The indignation in Scorpius’ voice only served to ignite the spark of anger in Draco's chest. “For what? How about for stealing from me? How about for _lying_ to me? How about for involving Lily and Rose and Hugo and Carmel in this foolishness? Did you ever stop to think even once that what you were doing was wrong? That you could end up seriously injured – or worse – by following the directions of a dead man speaking to you from a portrait?” Draco knew that his voice was rising; knew that he was beginning to lose control over himself, but the anger building in him was overtaking any of his more sensible reactions. He stepped forward, his hands clenching by his sides. “This is _not_ the way we raised you. You are much more sensible than this usually–”

 

“Oh, right,” Scorpius interrupted, sarcasm laced heavily through his voice. “Because I’m supposed to be the Malfoy family’s saviour, right? The one who isn’t supposed to have fucked anything up, right? Who is just supposed to float along doing nothing harmful and nothing exciting ever, right? Well you know what? I don’t _want_ to be the family’s personal saviour. Maybe I want to have bad grades and smoke in Myrtle’s bathroom and get a tattoo and dye my hair purple! Maybe I want to be the one who people can look at and think that I’m not to be messed with, did you ever think of that? No, of course you didn’t, because all you ever think about is _you_.”

 

Fury lit through Draco's chest at being spoken to in such a way by his own son. Stepping forward without even thinking about what he was doing, he grabbed the top of Scorpius’ arm and dragged him forward.

 

“How _dare_ you speak to me that way,” he snarled, his face close enough to Scorpius’ that he could easily see fear flash through his grey eyes. “I am your Father, young man and–”

 

“You’re nothing but a washed up _Death Eater_ trying to push what you wanted out of your life onto me!”

 

With that, Scorpius twisted, breaking Draco's grip on him. He raced from the room in the next second, crashing through the house and obviously knocking things over as he ran. Still running on pure instinct, Draco turned to the door to follow him, but was prevented by a shield being placed over the door that was strong enough that he bounced back a few steps when he hit it.

 

“Let him go, Dray.”

 

“Don’t you fucking well tell me how to discipline my own son, Potter!”

 

Draco spun, pulling his wand out of its holster again. He was met by the sight of Harry standing guard in front of Astoria and Albus, his own wand in his hand. Images of a defence lesson Harry had given him what seemed like years ago, but had only been months flashed through Draco's mind. He recognised the stance Harry was holding: it was generally used when the person didn’t know whether they were going to be attacked or not. His blood pounding in his ears, Draco's eyes flicked over behind Harry to find Astoria watching him, her eyes wide with what appeared to be fear.

 

“Stand down, Draco. Drop your wand.”

 

There was such command to Harry’s voice that Draco almost followed through on the demand. _Almost_. Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on his wand and twisted, removing himself from the situation.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, it seems that me being late with these chapters in now a thing. Sorry!

The crack of Draco's Apparition sent a strange combination of emotions through Harry. Relief that he hadn’t had to properly raise his wand to him was foremost in his mind, but it was closely followed by a mix of worry and confusion. He was fairly certain that he had never once seen Draco lose his temper that badly with anyone other than himself and for the person he lost it with to be Scorpius… He shook his head as he straightened up and holstered his wand. Turning, he was about to check on Albus when he caught a glimpse of disbelief and anger on Astoria’s face.

 

“Tori?”

 

“What the _hell_ was that?”

 

Alarm bells went off in the back of Harry’s mind as Astoria stood from her kneeling position in front of the windows. She wasn’t as good at hiding her emotions as Draco was, not that Harry thought she was even trying. Her eyes flashed briefly as her top lip curled, but she turned to face Al instead of continuing with the thought that had obviously caused the reaction.

 

“Al, could you please go out to your Aunt and Uncle for me? I have to have a word with your Dad.”

 

Despite all the evidence before him pointing towards Astoria being mightily pissed off with him, Harry couldn’t help finding it fascinating that she was still able to speak to Al in a normal tone of voice. Al glanced between the two of them for a few seconds, the nerves he was obviously feeling showing through in his slightly jerky movements.

 

“I, um…” Finally settling on Harry, Al shot him a worried look. “Dad?”

 

Sitting on the floor of Regulus’ old room, covered head-to-toe in black residue, and his eyes wide, Al looked _so_ young. Unwilling to resist the urge, Harry knelt before him and scrubbed a hand through Al’s hair, dislodging a whole bunch of white flakes left over from one of the protective charms.

 

“It’s alright, Al; off you go. Not too far, though, because you and brother are still in trouble for this.”

 

Waving his wand towards the door, Harry dismissed the shield charm he had cast so Al could leave the room. The door closed the second Al was out of sight and Harry could feel a strong privacy charm being placed around the entire room. Standing, he took a deep breath before facing Astoria.

 

“Are they really in trouble, Harry? Because you seem much angrier with Draco than you do with your own sons, who played just as much a part in this little fiasco as Scorpius has. Even more so, in fact, because it must have been them who let the other children through the wards placed on the floo to Grimmauld.”

 

Watching as Astoria’s hands clenched by her sides, Harry frowned. “I’m not angry with Draco–”

 

“Really?” Astoria scoffed. “You could have fooled me, standing there with your wand out and facing him down like he was a common criminal you were about to arrest.”

 

“We were watching the same thing, right?” Harry ran a hand through his hair as confusion at the direction the conversation had taken ran through him. “You did see him grab Scorpius and get right into his face, right? You did hear the tone of voice he was using? Who talks to a child that way?”

 

“The child’s _Father_ speaks to him that way when the child is disrespectful!”

 

It was clear from the building frustration in her voice that she thought that he wasn’t understanding something important, but Harry couldn’t for the life of him work out what it was. Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he took a step away from her and opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it.

 

“Merlin, Harry, would you have gotten away with speaking to your guardian like that when _you_ were twelve years old?”

 

Without even thinking about it, Harry’s hands dropped to his sides and he levelled Astoria with a glare. “Considering I spent most of my time as a child either locked in a cupboard with no food, or cleaning up after my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin Dudley, I didn’t really get a chance to test out what would happen if I was rude to one of them any worse than what a child usually is.” He could clearly see a slight horror dawning in Astoria’s eyes as she realised what she had said, but he didn’t let up. “I would say that speaking to my Uncle like that at that age would have earned me the rest of the summer in my room with only the minimum of food to keep me alive. And, in fact, that is _exactly_ how I spent the summer between my first and second years at Hogwarts: locked in my room with very little to eat because a completely mad house-elf had cast a hovering charm in order to prevent me from going back. Ron and the twins came to rescue me in Arthur’s flying car when they hadn’t heard from me all summer. So, no, I would say that they wouldn’t have allowed me to ‘get away’ with speaking to any of them like that, to be honest.”

 

Astoria’s hand had come up to cover her mouth by the time Harry was finished. Her eyes – which had been narrowed in anger – were wide over the top of her hand as she began to shake her head slowly.

 

“Harry, I am _so_ sorry! I didn’t think, it just slipped out!” Shifting her weight from leg to leg, she stared at him with sympathy in her eyes for a long moment, obviously waiting to see whether he would respond. When he didn’t, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, visibly steeling herself for what she was about to say. “I didn’t mean to insult you or drag up painful memories or anything like that, but… Look, there is obviously a vast difference between the way you parent your children and the way Draco and I parent Scorpius.”

 

“Parenting differences? You think this comes down to how differently we raised our children?” Running a hand through his hair again, Harry cast around, searching for some kind of sense in that statement. When he could come up with nothing, he sighed. “Tori, I saw the fear in your eyes when you were staring at Draco after Scorpius had left–”

 

“You think I was staring at Draco?” The sympathy that had been on her face left it rapidly, to be replaced with a kind of disbelief that had annoyance rippling over Harry’s skin again. “I have never had a reason to be afraid of _Draco_ of all people! For God’s sake, he’d probably be horrified if he thought he’d scared me!”

 

“What, then? Because I don’t see anything else in the room that could have made you look like that when he started snarling at Scorp!”

 

In the few seconds before Astoria responded, Harry was able to make out a number of emotions crossing her face. Confusion and surprise made brief appearances before she finally settled back on disbelief again.

 

“You don’t see how watching as the ex-Head Auror stood up in front of me and basically threatened someone I love could scare me? If I was showing fear, Harry, it was _for_ Draco, not _of_ him. Draco has never given me reason to fear him before and I think it highly unlikely that he ever will.”

 

For what felt like hours, all Harry could do in response to that was stand and blink at her. His mind had gone completely blank the second she had stated that the fear Harry had clearly seen in her eyes wasn’t of Draco. _Him_ ; Astoria was telling him that she had been afraid of him. It was a sobering realisation when he really thought about it. He had reacted on instinct, moving to protect her and Al from what he had seen as a dangerous situation when Draco had been threatening… No, he corrected himself, not threatening. If Astoria’s words to him were to be taken at face value, then Draco hadn’t been threatening Scorpius at all. He had, in fact, just been reacting the way any apparently ‘normal’ person would react when faced with their son having done something so dangerous. If she was correct, then it was actually Harry who had overreacted in this situation, apparently due to his lack of proper upbringing. There was so much about this situation that, for Harry, simply beggared belief: Draco's reaction to Scorpius, Scorpius’ words – which Harry was now beginning to see had been incredibly disrespectful – to Draco, and now Astoria’s angry response to him following his instincts and moving to protect her and Al from what he had seen to be a threat. Had he overreacted by stopping Draco from following Scorpius when he had fled the room? He really didn’t think so, but–

 

“Harry?”

 

Shaking his head, he blinked Astoria back into focus. “Yes?”

 

“How would you have reacted if James or Al had spoken to you like that?”

 

Letting out a sigh, Harry shrugged. “Honestly? I have no idea. I’ve never been one for corporal punishment when it comes to my kids. We always talked to them when they had done something wrong; we never hit them, or anything like that.”

 

“Neither did we.”

 

“No, I wasn’t… I wasn’t implying that either of you had ever hit Scorpius, I was…” Pressing his lips together, Harry huffed a breath out of his nose. “Look, I haven’t ever seen Draco that angry with anyone other than me before, alright? He is usually so in control of himself – especially around people other than family – that him reacting that way to _Scorpius_ came as a complete shock.”

 

There was a moment of silence between the two of them in which Harry simply tried to imagine either one of his boys speaking to him like that and what his reaction would likely have been. Anger, for sure, but would he have had the same kind of reaction Draco had had? No, he really didn’t think so. James had caused him no end of trouble in the past, especially over the past year, but Harry had never once lost his temper with him like this. Pressing his lips together again, he lowered his head so Astoria couldn’t see his eyes.

 

“I can’t say how I would have reacted, because it hasn’t ever happened. And, quite frankly, I hope it never does.”

 

A shuffled footstep was the only warning Harry got before Astoria’s hands landed on his shoulders. “The two of you truly are polar opposites in so many ways, aren’t you?” She waited until he looked up, shock rushing through him at her words, before continuing. “Look, I can’t say what is going to happen between the two of you, but what I can tell you is that Draco most likely isn’t going to be pleased with you for drawing your wand on him.”

 

Harry heard her huff out an amused sound as his eyes slid shut. He had known over the years that his tendency to react immediately without giving his situation much thought was a bad thing, but this was probably one of the very few times that he could remember that his instinctual reactions were going to cause him real problems. The look on Draco's face as he had turned towards Harry flashed through his mind, the anger clouding his eyes causing Harry’s stomach to clench with worry.

 

“I’ve actually fucked up this time, haven’t I?”

 

“I wouldn’t call you a fuckup. I’d be much more tempted to call it…” She paused, causing Harry to reopen his eyes. “Not thoughtless exactly, either, although I’d probably tell you to maybe start to think before reacting in the future. Especially when it comes to the way Draco disciplines Scorpius. The two of you obviously have very different ways of dealing with the children, so that’s probably something to work on.”

 

“Two fucking days before I’m supposed to marry him and I’m only just discovering this now.”

 

Harry shook his head and took a step backwards, breaking Astoria’s hold on him. Running a hand through his hair again, he glanced around the room. His eyes landed on the open hole in the floor the boys had managed to open.

 

“All this trouble and whatever’s in there isn’t even what we’re all focussed on.”

 

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to find out what they went to all this trouble for today.”

 

Harry shook his head. “No. I have other things I have to deal with before I can come back here to sort through this part of the mess.”

 

The smile Tori offered him as they dismissed the charm surrounding the room and exited together was at least partly sympathetic, which Harry found himself quite grateful for. Taking a deep breath as he entered the hallway that led down to the rest of the house, he prepared himself for facing off with his boys. At least he could be certain of how he was going to deal with them. Draco, on the other hand, was another question completely.

 

*~*

 

Thanks to the tracking charm Harry had placed on all three of their boys, Draco knew the second that Scorpius returned to the Manor through the floo. Having Apparated straight back to his workrooms in the basement, he had been exorcising his anger at the way the day had unfolded on some potions. He knew that the smoking remnants in the corner were a complete waste of money, but throwing potions against the wall was a much better way of burning off some of his energy than taking it out on Harry the next time he saw him.

 

Shaking his head as his nerves jumped at the thought of Harry, he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was not going to allow himself to think of what had transpired in Grimmauld. At least, he wasn’t going to think about it if he wanted to be able to actually burn off some of his anger rather than increase it. Staying down in the basement until he thought himself about as under control of his emotions as he was going to get considering the circumstances, Draco prepared himself to go up and face Scorpius. It had been a long time since the two of them had clashed this badly, but Draco figured that, considering how similar the two of them were, it was probably a small miracle that they had lasted as long as they had. Taking a deep breath, he made his way up through the house, heading for Scorpius’ rooms in Astoria’s wing of the Manor.

 

Draco was able to hear Scorpius long before his rooms even came into view. Music blasted through the partially open door, accompanied by various crashes and bangs. Draco's eyes closed briefly before he tapped at the door and pushed it open a little further.

 

“Scorp?”

 

“Get. Out.”

 

Considering the fact that Draco was able to hear the words above the music, he had to figure that they had been screamed. Bracing himself for what he was about to walk into, Draco pushed on the door again, this time revealing Scorpius standing in the middle of the outer room of his suite, wand in hand and a wild look in his eyes. It was obvious that he had managed to work out how to remove the black mess he had been covered in, which Draco was thankful for, at least. Draco glanced quickly around the room, trying to figure out exactly what the banging had been, but when he saw nothing, he met Scorpius’ eyes again.

 

“Turn the music down.”

 

Draco expected to be ignored. He wasn’t disappointed. Scorpius grinned at him before mouthing something at him that looked terribly like _make me_. With a soft sigh and a roll of his eyes, Draco removed his wand and flicked it at the stereo, turning the volume off completely.

 

“Satisfied?”

 

“ _No_.”

 

With a look to Draco that clearly told him that he was being tested, Scorpius marched over and turned the volume up again, this time even louder. Standing in front of the stereo with his arms crossed across his chest, Scorpius smirked at him and cocked an eyebrow, the challenge clear. Annoyance rippled across Draco's shoulders before he flicked his wand again, this time cutting the power entirely so Scorpius couldn’t turn it back on again. He was almost ashamed of the small sense of satisfaction that washed through him when Scorpius realised what he had done and let out a small noise that sounded very much like a frustrated growl to Draco. Scorpius sighed.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“A little respect would be nice, for a start.” He didn’t miss the small huff of breath Scorpius gave in response. “Take a seat, Scorp.” Moving into the room, Draco seated himself on one of the comfortable lounge chairs that sat beneath the windows. When Scorpius didn’t move, he sighed. “Fine. Stay standing. We are going to have this discussion, however, so you may as well be comfortable.”

 

“‘Discussion’? I wasn’t aware that they had changed the definition of discussion to ‘you talking and me having to put up with everything and not getting a say’.”

 

“You want a say? Then you may want to consider acting a little less like we had raised you in a barn and a little more like the intelligent young man I know is in there somewhere.”

 

“You want to give me a say? Alright, how’s this then? I tried to do something good, something that would make you proud of me and all that happened was that you got mad. This is something that was supposed to be _special_ , but I messed it all up and now you’re mad at me because of it!”

 

Sitting and watching as Scorpius waved his hands through the air, continuing with his ‘explanation’, Draco struggled to keep his mouth shut until he was done. All Scorp was doing was repeating the things he had said in Grimmauld, only this time, they held a much… Well, Draco considered, _younger_ _tone_ is what he would have called it. They lacked the vitriol that they had held earlier in the day and were now making Scorpius sound much more like the twelve-year-old he really was. A petulant twelve-year-old at that. Still, Draco let him talk himself out, thinking that this was probably the better road to take rather than interrupting him and risking another screaming match like the one they had had in Grimmauld.

 

“…but the potions must have been altered wrong, because they set the protection charms off. Well, all but the last one. It opened the door in the floor of the room, but that was when we realised that you were all here and James chickened out. He ran back out to the others before the door had even opened and then Harry and Mum ran in after he’d left...” Scorpius trailed off with a shake of his head. “Then…” He waved his hand in Draco's direction with a despairing look in his eyes.

 

“I came in and ruined everything,” Draco ventured. He couldn’t help the huff of amusement he let out when Scorp nodded. “Come here, Scorp. Sit down.”

 

Draco found himself quite grateful that he had allowed Scorpius time to offer his own explanation of events, even if he had only just been repeating what he had said before. The extra bit of time had apparently been long enough so that he could let go of just enough of his earlier anger with his son so that he could interact with him on a normal level rather than from the place of anger he had been in earlier. He waited until Scorpius had settled himself down in the lounge chair beside him before speaking again.

 

“You do realise that what you did in order to open that chamber today was wrong, right?” Scorpius sighed, but gave a small nod. “You stole from me, Scorp. Not only that, but you broke through my wards to do it.”

 

“I know that, but I thought–”

 

“Did you?”

 

That seemed to bring Scorpius up short. His mouth opened and closed a few times before answering.

 

“ _Yes_!” He scoffed when Draco merely raised an eyebrow at him. “We wanted to do something _good_ , Dad, I swear! It wasn’t like I was trying to break into your private files, or steal money from you! It was just three potions!”

 

“Potions that I _sell_ , Scorp. For money.”

 

“I…” Throwing himself back against the back of the chair, Scorpius sighed. “Fine. You want me to pay you back the what? Fifteen Galleons you would have made from those potions? I will. Are you happy now?”

 

Draco couldn’t help sighing. “No, Scorp, I don’t want your money.”

 

“What then?” Scorpius was sounding more and more frustrated by the second; something that Draco wasn’t actually aiming for. “If you don’t want me to pay you back, then why focus on the stupid potions?”

 

“What I want, Scorp, is for you to acknowledge that what you did was wrong. Even if the end result was supposed to be something good, the way you went about achieving the end goal was wrong. You were raised better than to steal and to lie and to speak to me in the way you did earlier today.”

 

Watching Scorpius as closely as he was, Draco couldn’t have missed the way he almost deflated at his words. Slumping back into the chair, Scorp let out what sounded like a long-suffering sigh.

 

“Fine. I’m sorry I stole the potions. I’m sorry I lied to you. And I’m sorry that I yelled.” Draco couldn’t tell whether the morose look Scorpius shot him was supposed to garner him sympathy or not, but if it was, then it wasn’t working. “Was there anything else?”

 

Unwilling to allow Scorp off the hook so easily, Draco nodded. “I will have to ground you. No stereo, no contact with your friends and no leaving your suite until tomorrow morning.” He almost felt the belated shot of sympathy when Scorpius’ eyes lit up at the seemingly short amount of time he was to be punished for, but held a hand up to prevent him from getting too excited. “In the morning, you will come downstairs with me and your Mother and I will discuss what your actual punishment is to be. Am I understood?”

 

Draco was grateful when Scorp nodded almost immediately. Standing from the lounge chair, he straightened his clothing before crossing the room to the door. He couldn’t resist turning to take one last look at Scorpius still sitting in the lounge chair beneath the windows. Slumped down as he was, Scorpius looked so tiny, the sight sending a wash of real sympathy through Draco's chest. Gripping the door a little tighter than was strictly necessary, Draco sighed.

 

“I’ll send one of the house-elves up to take your order for dinner tonight, alright?”

 

“Sure.”

 

Draco shook his head as he quietly shut Scorpius’ door. He had never really liked to punish Scorp, but this time he had truly deserved probably even more than what Draco had dealt out. He just hoped that whatever he and Tori could come up with as punishment the next morning would get the message through to their son: what he had done was _not_ acceptable behaviour by any reasonable standard.

 

Trailing his hand along the balustrade as he walked, Draco let out a soft sigh when he felt two more tugs on the tracking charm, letting him know that both James and Al had entered the house through the floo. His steps lengthened when he heard Harry’s voice echoing up through the Manor, hoping to make it back to their suite of rooms before Harry did. He knew he was in for another showdown and he would much rather that it happened in private.


	34. Chapter 34

Trailing slowly up the stairs of the Manor after his boys, Harry sighed as his nerves jumped. By his calculations, it had been roughly an hour and a half since Draco had Apparated out of Grimmauld Place. He knew that it was probably pretty stupid of him, but Harry found himself hoping that that was enough time for Draco to have calmed down a little. Not that Draco didn’t apparently have every right to be pissed off, Harry now knew, but he would much rather avoid a screaming match if at all possible. He watched as the boys reached the floor that their rooms were on and turned off the staircase, walking slowly, almost as though they thought they were going to the gallows. Under nearly any other circumstance, Harry would probably have thought it funny.

 

“Dad?”

 

Harry jumped at the sound of Lily’s voice coming from behind him. Turning, he saw her standing just at the top of the stairs, a small frown on her face.

 

“What–” His voice cracked, sounding tired even to him, but he knew it was only going to get worse. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “What’s up, Lil?”

 

Lily hesitated a few seconds before answering. Harry used the time to check that both of the boys headed into their respective rooms with no problems before turning back to her.

 

“Lily?”

 

“Where are Draco and Scorpius?”

 

Harry had felt the tug of the tracking charm the second he had entered the Manor through the floo, telling him that Scorp was up in his suite of rooms in Astoria’s wing of the house. He could only guess at Draco's whereabouts, but had to assume that he was either in one of his workrooms or their bedroom. Stepping over to where Lily stood, he knelt down so he was on eye-level with her, assuming that what she was about to ask had really nothing to do with just wanting to know where Draco and Scorp were.

 

“They’re here. Scorp is in his suite in the other wing of the house and I think Draco might be in our rooms. Why?”

 

Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Lily frowned. “I don’t want everyone to be angry at each other.”

 

Harry had to hold back the sad smile her words caused. “I’m not angry at anyone, Lil. Your brothers and Scorp are definitely in trouble after what they did and I’m not really happy with you for running away like you did, but I’m not angry. Not anymore.”

 

It was mostly the truth. Having spent the past hour lecturing the boys – after being lectured by Astoria himself – Harry had purged a lot of the anger that had built up in him. What remained was mainly directed at himself for his rash actions. Harry knew, however, that he still had to find Draco and speak to him about what had happened and what that conversation would produce was up for debate. He blinked when Lily shifted restlessly in front of him, dragging him back to reality.

 

“So… The wedding is still on?”

 

Unable to help it, Harry offered Lily a small smile. “Yes, Lily, the wedding is still on.”

 

While he knew that he had fucked up with Draco by stopping him from going after Scorpius, he was fairly certain that that was nowhere near enough for them to break up over. Or, at least, he hoped it wasn’t. His smile widened when Lily grinned.

 

“Off you go, then. Into your room and wait there until I come to collect you. You’re still in trouble for running away with the boys, even if it was their idea.”

 

Lily’s grin faded and she let out a gusty sigh, but Harry held firm. There was no way he was going to allow any of his kids to think that they would be allowed to get away with behaving in this way without consequences and if the way to do that was to ground them until they admitted how wrong they had been, then that was exactly what Harry would do. First though, he had Draco to deal with. Standing, he motioned for Lily to precede him down the hall. He watched her enter her room, then cast a light warding charm over all three bedrooms; one that would tell him if anyone either entered or exited them.

 

Harry’s nerves kicked in again as he headed towards his and Draco's suite of rooms. Despite his words to Lily, there was an annoying little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he _had_ actually fucked up badly enough that Draco would want to either cancel or postpone the wedding. The idea, of course, sent chills running up and down his spine and caused nausea to rise in his throat. After everything they had been through together over the past ten months, there was no way he was going to give Draco up without a fight; that he was absolutely determined about. Taking a somewhat shaky breath as he reached the door to their suite, he let it out slowly.

 

“Draco?” The entry room was empty, so Harry stepped lightly over to the door to the bedroom itself. “Draco?”

 

The door wasn’t warded in any way that Harry could tell, so he turned the handle and pushed gently. What he saw had the blood draining from his face. Two small suitcases sat open on the bed, one at least half full with clothing. Harry’s hand clenched on the handle of the door and his heart stuttered in his chest as panic began to settle over him. Stepping further into the room showed Draco standing at the wardrobe, holding one of Harry’s old t-shirts in his hands, examining it as though he was about to critique it.

 

“Draco, what–” Harry’s voice was low and he did actually manage to hold it steady until it cracked. Clearing his throat, he began again. “Are you going somewhere?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Harry’s stomach dropped into his shoes, a cold sweat broke on his forehead and his eyes slid shut involuntarily. He took a breath to respond – or to begin apologising before Draco had a chance to continue with the thought – but Draco spoke again before he could.

 

“On a honeymoon with _you_ , if you recall. Since you have so far refused to pack properly, I have taken it upon myself to do it for you.”

 

Apparently the t-shirt didn’t pass Draco's inspection, as he scrunched it into a ball and threw it back into Harry’s side of the wardrobe. He appeared to be completely clueless as to the impact his words had had on Harry, as he continued to search through the wardrobe, his back towards the door where Harry still stood.

 

_Of course_ it was the packing for the honeymoon that Draco was taking care of. Harry sagged as relief shot through him. Taking the opportunity presented to try to calm his racing heart, he took several slow breaths. Once he was certain that he could speak without his voice shaking, he took another step into the room and clasped his hands behind his back, simply watching for a few minutes as Draco worked.

 

“Is that all you wanted?”

 

Turning from the wardrobe, Draco walked over to the bed and placed several garments into one of the suitcases. He kept his back to Harry the entire time.

 

“I, er… No, I…”

 

Harry paused, unsure of how to continue. It was obvious to him that Draco was, at the very least, unhappy with him over what had happened. The thing was, he was so used to having something to bounce off, some kind of anger to meet head-on, that he was completely wrong-footed when it came to being given what basically amounted to the silent treatment. Running a hand through his hair, he let out a small sigh.

 

“Look, if you’re going to say something, just come out with it, will you?” Moving from the wardrobe to the bed again, Draco deposited another armload of clothing into one of the suitcases. “Unless you’d rather draw your wand on me again.”

 

That last was spoken so quietly that Harry wasn’t certain whether he was actually supposed to have heard it or not. Draco continued on his way back to the wardrobe again and began searching through it again as though he hadn’t spoken. Harry, however, wasn’t about to let the tiny opening he had been offered go.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

“I reacted on instinct.”

 

“I _don’t_ care.”

 

“It looked like you were threatening him.”

 

Throwing his latest armload of clothing onto the floor at his feet, Draco spun to face Harry. There was colour high on his cheeks and his hands clenched sporadically at his sides.

 

“Do you have _any_ idea how fucking insulting that is? To think that the man I am going to marry in two days thinks that I could harm my own son in any way…” He trailed off, his lip curling in obvious disgust. “Do you trust me at all?”

 

It was like a shot straight to Harry’s gut. His stomach muscles clenched and his breath left him in a rush as he stared into Draco's steely eyes.

 

“I love you, Dray, you _know_ that. But–”

 

“Love and trust are two completely different things, Potter,” Draco spat before turning back to pick up the discarded clothing. “And the phrase ‘I love you’ should _never_ be followed immediately by the word ‘ _but_ ’.”

 

Throwing the clothing back into the wardrobe, Draco stomped over to the ensuite and slammed the door behind him. Harry’s eyes closed again as he realised that he had actually managed to make things worse. Clenching his hands into fists and letting them out again seemed to help with some of the twitchiness he was feeling due to the mix of emotions running through him, but he knew that he needed to go after Draco. Again. Huffing out a breath, he strode purposefully over to the door of the ensuite and opened it slowly.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Fuck off.”

 

“I can’t do that.”

 

Stepping inside revealed Draco standing at the sink, his forehead resting on the glass of the mirror. He looked so worn out that Harry’s fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and touch; to soothe. But he knew he shouldn’t. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he rocked on his toes.

 

“I don’t know how else to say this so that you will begin to believe me, but _I am sorry_ , Draco. I didn’t mean to insult you, I didn’t mean to override your authority with Scorpius, and I certainly didn’t draw my wand to attack you in any way.”

 

“You say that like you expect it to make everything just magically go back to how it was.”

 

“I don’t _want_ everything to go back to how it was.”

 

Harry’s stomach flipped when Draco's head whipped around so he could stare at him with an emotion Harry couldn’t quite make out. There was a moment’s pause before Draco spoke again, this time in a low tone that was so deadly serious, Harry’s insides shivered.

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“That this is a discussion we should have had before the boys came home. Things between us have happened so fast that we haven’t really had a chance to discuss the important things. We were both so caught up in the boys coming home from Hogwarts and making sure that they were all settled in and comfortable with our relationship that we never actually _talked_ about anything. Then there was all the worry and confusion over what they were up to that I think the subject just got forgotten.” Harry paused to take a deep breath, feeling slightly encouraged by the fact that Draco hadn’t interrupted him. “After you left Grimmauld, Tori pointed out that there are obvious differences between how we each parent the children. I know that everything has been fine up until now, but I think that that’s because out of all four of them, Lily is the easiest one to deal with. Pay attention to her when she speaks and let her get her way with what she gets to eat occasionally and she won’t cause you any trouble. But the boys are obviously much more complicated than that and, equally as obviously, we deal with that in different ways. That is what we should have focussed on before the boys came home, not whether they would be able to adjust to living together, or whether they would get along in general.”

 

Draco hadn’t stopped staring at Harry the entire time he spoke. It was slightly unsettling to be caught in his gaze for so long, but Harry stood firm, not allowing Draco to intimidate him into silence. It seemed to take forever, but eventually Draco let out a sigh and pushed himself off the sink.

 

“Tomorrow.”

 

Moving quickly, Draco slipped between Harry and the doorjamb and stepped out into the bedroom. Standing and blinking at the now-empty ensuite, Harry frowned.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I said ‘tomorrow’, Potter. I do not wish to discuss _anything_ with you at the moment. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some more packing to do.”

 

Turning slowly back towards the bedroom, Harry tried to process what he had just been told. Draco was angry with him. That was plainly obvious and, really, Harry couldn’t blame him for that much. But this refusing to even speak to him? That was a new development; one Harry found himself disliking intensely. He knew he had pretty much only two choices here: either he could accept what Draco had said and slink out with his tail between his legs, or he could challenge him. Not being one to ever back down when he thought what he was doing was right, Harry took a deep breath and steeled himself for what he was about to do.

 

“Draco.”

 

“Harry.”

 

“We should talk about what happened now, not tomorrow.”

 

Draco froze, his arms full of clothing. “Fine.”

 

“‘Fine’?”

 

“Fine.” Draco threw the clothing to the floor once again and spun on his heel. “What exactly is it you want to discuss? Could it be the fact that you automatically assumed that I was a danger to my own son? Or perhaps it could be the fact that you prevented me from disciplining him?” He advanced slowly, his hands clenching and eyes flashing again. “Or maybe you want to address the fact that you drew your wand on me?”

 

“Hey, come on. You drew yours on me as well. I was only trying to protect my son.”

 

“I was protecting _myself_.”

 

“‘Protecting’?” Harry couldn’t help scoffing. “You had your wand out before you turned. You were ready to start throwing hexes by the time you faced me.”

 

“And it appears that that was a good thing, as yours was already out, wasn’t it?”

 

“Draco, there is a _huge_ difference between you being ready to just start throwing hexes around and me putting a shield between you and Scorpius.”

 

“Yeah: _you_ shouldn’t have done it.”

 

“Oh, so it’s perfectly alright for you to start these things by facing me down with your wand in hand, but the second I draw mine, it becomes a problem. That’s a really nice double standard you have there.”

 

“For fuck’s sake!” Draco spun around again, his hands coming up to clench in his hair. “This is why I said to wait until tomorrow. I don’t… God damn it. I _can’t_ deal with this now. _Why_ can’t you just give me time to think?”

 

Still reacting purely on instinct, Harry shrugged helplessly. “I can’t lose you. Not over something like this. If you have time to think, you might change your mind, or decide that we are moving too fast and that we should take some time apart. I love you, Draco. And, despite what it may seem like at the moment, I trust you completely. I wouldn’t allow my children anywhere near you if I didn’t.”

 

Watching Draco as he was, Harry caught the moment that he almost seemed to give in. His shoulders relaxed a little and he let out a small breath before allowing his arms to fall to his sides.

 

“I don’t want to fight.”

 

The statement was quiet enough that Harry almost thought he had imagined it. When Draco turned back to face him, however, it became clear that he had actually spoken. With dark circles forming beneath his eyes, his skin pale enough that it almost appeared translucent, and his Occlumency shields obviously completely down, Draco appeared… Well, Harry considered, _vulnerable_ was the closest he could probably come to being able to properly describe it.

 

“I can’t.” Draco waved a hand towards him, shaking his head. “I just can’t at the moment. Let me sleep on it. Please.”

 

Taking the chance that he wouldn’t be pushed away, Harry stepped forward and stretched a hand towards Draco. He was rewarded when Draco practically collapsed into his arms. Wrapping his arms securely around Draco's waist and shoulders, Harry simply held him for a while, not wanting to risk speaking at that moment. He had no idea how long he waited, but eventually Draco took in a deep breath and shifted a little closer, adjusting his stance.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I really am sorry.”

 

Draco nodded, his forehead rubbing against Harry’s shoulder. “So am I.”

 

Harry couldn’t help the small smile he gave when Draco still didn’t move away from him. “Forget the packing for the time being. I’ll send one of the house-elves to your parent’s house for some of that chili chocolate you like.”

 

Draco let out a small huff of breath against Harry’s shoulder. “There is really no need to suck up, you know.”

 

“This isn’t me sucking up. This is me doing the right thing and looking after you as you deserve. You’re obviously over-stressed and that is partially my fault. I know that that particular chocolate tends to help, so I’ll get the bloody chocolate.”

 

It was a while before Draco did anything other than stand there in Harry’s arms. When he felt the slight pressure on his arms that indicated that Draco wanted to be able to move, Harry let him go, albeit slightly reluctantly.

 

“This won’t make me any more willing to talk about anything today, you know.”

 

“I know. But not everything needs to have an ulterior motive.”

 

Draco seemed to consider Harry’s words for a few seconds before nodding. It seemed to be the only response he was going to get, but Harry figured that it was better than nothing. Perhaps Draco was right; perhaps if they spent the night just cooling down and thinking things over for themselves, they could have a real discussion about what happened in the morning.

 

Harry didn’t even wait to see what Draco would do once he moved away, he just marched straight out of the room in search of a house-elf. His mind was already racing through some of the things he knew helped Draco to relax and, even if Draco did think that he was being a suck-up, Harry found himself looking forward to maybe helping Draco to unwind a little. Draco had helped him through a hell of a lot when they had first been together, after all. Now he figured it was his chance to return the favour. Even if they were facing another stress-inducing conversation in the morning, he thought that he would do what he could for the time being. It was what a reasonable husband would do, after all.


	35. Chapter 35

When Draco's alarm began to blare the next morning at the usual 5am, he groaned. The incessant beeping seemed to be making his temples throb along with it, the sound vibrating through his skull. He swatted blindly in the direction of the bedside, hoping to turn it off quickly. When he managed to actually hit it, the bloody thing fell off the table and crunched down onto the carpet. After giving one final, half-hearted beep, the alarm fell silent and Draco sighed.

 

It had been months since he had woken feeling this shitty, but he knew he should have been expecting it. His body had never dealt with stress well and, with the fight with Harry the day before piled in on top of everything the boys had been up to over the past few weeks, Draco knew exactly what had caused the throbbing in his head: stress. Knowing that Harry would have slept straight through his alarm – he had long since gotten used to it – Draco figured that if he wanted a headache potion, then he was going to have to get it himself. Pushing with his arms, he managed to make it up onto his elbows, but that was as far as he got before nausea washed over him. Collapsing back onto his face on the bed, he groaned again. It was clear that he was not going to be able to make it to the bathroom where the headache potion was kept as long as his stomach was roiling as much as it currently was. Focussing solely on his breathing in order to keep whatever was still in his stomach from making a reappearance, Draco took several deep breaths and let them out slowly. As focussed as he was on himself, it came as a total shock when a warm hand came to rest softly between his shoulder blades. Draco jumped and immediately let out a pained moan.

 

“Sorry, I thought you’d heard me.” Harry’s voice was pitched low. “Here, drink this.”

 

Trusting that Harry knew what he needed, Draco opened his mouth when the lip of a vial was pressed to his lips. The taste of one of his own headache potions flooded his mouth and he let out a relieved breath. He swallowed quickly – none of the pain potions ever tasted nice – before collapsing back down onto the bed again.

 

“How?”

 

His voice was croaky, but it seemed that Harry understood him perfectly. The hand resting between his shoulder blades moved a little and Draco imagined that he had just felt Harry shrug.

 

“I know you and the reactions you have to stress.” It was a few seconds before Harry spoke again, in which his hand slid over Draco's back, kneading a little in different areas. “Right here?”

 

Harry’s hand came to rest again in the middle of Draco's back, just beneath the bottom of his shoulder blades. He pressed his fingers into Draco's muscles, eliciting yet another groan from Draco, although this one was of pleasure.

 

“Up a little.”

 

Draco rolled his shoulders before pushing the pillow beneath him away so he could lie flat on the bed. Harry seemed to take that as his cue, as he shifted his position from the side of the bed. Moving so he was squatting just over the small of Draco's back, his knees either side of Draco's ribs, he settled in and began to massage away some of the tension that had built in Draco's back. Lying face down on the bed with Harry’s fingers slowly relieving the stiffness in his shoulders, Draco allowed his mind to drift.

 

Yesterday afternoon had helped him to clear a bit of the confusion and anger that had been flowing through him, but he knew there was still a lot he and Harry had to discuss. And _discuss_ was exactly what he wanted to do. He had had more than enough of disagreeing and fighting, especially when it came to Harry. Their relationship so far had been so easy – discounting, of course, the outside influences that had caused so much tension in the beginning – that fighting with him these days felt unnatural. But then…

 

“To the right.”

 

Draco moaned again when Harry obeyed his instructions, earning himself a low chuckle. They hadn’t spoken any more about what had happened the day before after Draco's little meltdown, but the time spent both on his own and with either Harry or Astoria yesterday afternoon had given Draco a little perspective. He was still unhappy about Harry’s treatment of him and there was no way he was going to stand being treated that way by the man he was supposed to be marrying the very next day. This was the point in which Draco was getting stuck, though. He wasn’t going to just let Harry go and he didn’t want to postpone the wedding, _but_ … He sighed.

 

“Harry?”

 

“I know.” The pressure on Draco's back increased a little as Harry leant forward to place a soft kiss on the back of his neck. “Believe me, _I know_.”

 

Harry let out a large sigh as he rolled off Draco and collapsed onto his own side of the bed. Testing to see whether the pain potion had taken full effect, Draco shoved himself up onto his elbows. When there was no jab of pain, he drew his knees up beneath him so he could sit up properly, rucking the sheet up at the same time. In the small sliver of early morning light that was making its way through the crack in the curtains surrounding the bed, it appeared to Draco as though Harry was watching him with an incredibly wary expression.

 

_I can’t lose you_ …

 

The words flittered through Draco's mind, accompanied by a vision of Harry looking so lost that Draco's chest ached in sympathy even now. If the fight they had had the day before had been due to Harry’s fear that Draco was going to leave him over this, it may explain the intensity that Harry had fought him with. However, it didn’t excuse anything that had come before the fight. Crossing his arms across his chest and lowering his gaze so he wasn’t looking at Harry, Draco took a deep breath.

 

“Do you?”

 

The silence following the question was so complete that Draco was forced to raise his head. Harry was still watching him with that wary expression, but it was mixed with something else now; something Draco couldn’t quite make out.

 

“Tell me.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“ _Tell_ _me_ , Draco. If you want me to fully understand exactly how you and Astoria have raised Scorpius, then you have to explain it to me because I can’t read minds.”

 

“Why–” Draco cut the question off before he could complete it. Raising a hand, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why are you so focussed on how we raised Scorpius?”

 

“Because that is what the problem is here.” Harry held a hand up when Draco met his eyes again and opened his mouth to respond. “That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to, so please don’t. What I _meant_ was that there are obvious differences in the way we parent the children and if I know how you and Astoria have raised Scorpius, then that will make life a whole lot simpler.”

 

Rubbing a hand across his face, Draco sighed. “Harry,” he began slowly. “How is you knowing how we parent Scorpius going to change what happened?”

 

The bed shifted a little as Harry adjusted his position, sitting up against the bedhead. “It won’t.”

 

Watching him as he was, Draco could see just how awkward Harry was feeling just from the way he was holding himself. “So…”

 

Harry shifted again, this time closer to the edge of the bed, almost as though he was preparing to run if needed. “Alright, look. I’m not trying to make excuses here, but just hear me out. My entire life has been about conflict, even from when I was a child and had to defend myself against Dudley and his gang. After the War, I went straight into being an Auror, which only honed the skills that had, up until then, been rudimentary. I have seen the very worst of the worst, not only when it comes to adults, but also when it comes to children. Seeing you grab Scorpius and get right into his face like that brought back some of those memories and, because I was already on guard due to the protection charms that had been set off, I reacted automatically. Casting that shield to prevent you from going after Scorpius was a purely instinctive reaction.”

 

Harry paused, but Draco kept his mouth shut, needing to know if there was anything else to this explanation. Draco, of course, already knew all about Harry’s childhood and some of what he had had to face down during his time with the Auror Corps. He could, _technically_ , see what Harry was saying and how that could have produced such a strong reaction in him when seemingly confronted with it again. However… Draco shook his head. Harry had had absolutely _no_ right to prevent him from going after Scorpius, not only because Harry wasn’t one of Scorpius’ parents, but also because there was simply something about the action that told Draco that he wasn’t fully trusted.

 

It was _that_ that had played on Draco’s mind much more than anything else the previous day after his anger had subsided. Did Harry trust him as much as he said he did? If he didn’t, then why was he seemingly so desperate to go ahead with this marriage? Then, of course, there was also a small voice in the back of his mind asking whether he actually thought Harry capable of deceit of that kind. From all appearances, Harry was quite a simple man to understand: treat him with respect and don’t go after anyone he considered family and you were pretty much guaranteed that he would treat you fairly. With how closely they had been together over the months of their relationship, Draco couldn’t see how he could have missed something that could have been hidden about Harry and, therefore, simply couldn’t accept that there could be something more to his personality than what he had seen. He was fiercely overprotective of the people he saw as his own and Draco knew that these days, ‘Harry’s own people’ included him, Scorpius and Astoria. But, again, that didn’t excuse his actions.

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco's head snapped up and his eyes met with Harry’s in the gloom. Sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed beneath him and his hands folded in his lap, Harry looked the very picture of contrition.

 

“I fucked up. I am _fully_ aware of that fact and am prepared to accept any consequences that come along with it. Scorpius is your son and I should never have interfered, it’s as simple as that. But there are obviously things that we need to work through between us. Not just when it comes to the children and how we treat them, but also to how we react to each other. Like I said yesterday, this relationship has happened _so_ fast that nothing has had time to develop like it should have. You know we haven’t even been together for eleven months yet? If any one of the children ever got into a relationship that moved this quickly, I’m pretty sure I would be calling in any contacts I still had within the Aurors and having whoever it was they were with thoroughly investigated. We have packed _years_ worth of relationship into ten and a bit months. To be totally honest, it’s probably a bit of a miracle that we haven’t completely combusted yet.”

 

Draco nodded slowly when Harry fell silent yet again. Not because he was agreeing with what he had said, but more just to let him know that he had been heard. There was a certain amount of sense to what Harry was saying, Draco knew; he _had_ proposed after only two months, after all. Harry was also correct about their apparent lack of communication skills within the relationship. Their children were one of – if not _the_ – biggest parts of both of their lives and neither of them had given being a stepparent even a second thought before attempting to mash their families together. When it came to that part of their current problems, it seemed that they were both to blame. That could be worked on and fixed, however, given time. Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“I don’t trust people easily, Harry.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I _do_ trust you.” A small rush of breath reached Draco's ears and he had to smile. “But I don’t want to go through life wondering whether that trust is misplaced–”

 

“Use your Legilimency on me.”

 

“What?” Draco recoiled, his stomach lurching in disgust at the very thought. “No!”

 

“ _Yes_. Look, I know that by reacting to you the way I did – that by treating you like one of the criminals I used to chase – I…” Harry cleared his throat and glanced away, staring intently at the pillows at the head of the bed. “I know you are doubting that I trust you in return. And that thoughts like that can lead to you questioning whether… Whether you even love me at all, because of the seeming lack of trust on my end. So…” Taking a deep breath, Harry closed his eyes and turned back towards Draco. When he reopened them, there was such an intense look to them that Draco found himself transfixed. “Use your Legilimency on me. I won’t resist or throw up barriers of any kind. If you want to know just how much I trust you, then this is your opportunity to find out for yourself.”

 

Draco's eyes slid shut of their own volition. This wasn’t what he wanted. Hell, this wasn’t even what he had been aiming for when he had brought the subject of trust up simply because he knew he didn’t need actual proof that Harry trusted him. Sure, he had had his moments of doubt, just like anyone else does within a relationship; that was perfectly normal and reasonable. But invading Harry’s privacy like that, even with his permission… Draco shook his head.

 

“No, I don’t need that.”

 

“Does that mean… No, wait, don’t answer that.”

 

Draco reopened his eyes so he could raise an eyebrow in Harry’s direction. “I shall, of course, endeavour to keep my opinions on that incredibly fascinating and complex subject to myself.”

 

Harry rolled his eyes. “Funny.” He ran a hand through his hair before meeting Draco's eyes again. “So, what does that mean? For us, I mean.”

 

“Are you asking what does it mean that I don’t need proof that you trust me?”

 

“No. I’m asking what it means that you don’t want that particular type of proof. I can’t keep you out if you choose to use it; you know that.”

 

“Yes, I do and that is exactly why. You _can’t_ keep me out; don’t have a chance, in fact. I don’t need that type of proof because it would be a violation.”

 

“Alright.” Harry nodded, although Draco was fairly certain that he didn’t fully understand what he was agreeing to. “So… Look, fuck it, I’m just going to come out and ask. How the _hell_ do we fix this? I know that parenting issues can be resolved relatively easily in comparison, but this seems too big to be able to overcome in a small amount of time. Draco, we are supposed to be getting _married_ tomorrow and…”

 

Pausing again, Harry let out a gusty sigh. It was clear to Draco that Harry was having issues seeing past their current problems and, really, he figured, who could blame him? This _did_ seem like a major issue to have to work through the day before their wedding. But perhaps this was simply the way things were with them. They had done everything so fast in this relationship, really sped through all of the important parts, that dealing with things last minute might simply be the way their relationship worked. Taking a steadying breath, he moved so that he was resting back against the headboard.

 

“Talk to me.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You asked how we are going to deal with this. Talk to me. Tell me what the issues are and we will start working through them.”

 

Harry let out a disbelieving breath before shaking his head. “You’re serious? The day before the wedding and you what to just start all over again?”

 

“Not all over again, obviously. But there are things that need to be addressed. If this is the way to do that, then that is exactly what we will do.” Patting the spot beside him on the bed, Draco offered Harry a smile. “Come here and _talk to me_.”

 

It took a few seconds, but Harry eventually joined Draco at the head of the bed. Summoning a house-elf, Draco settled in for what he knew was bound to be one of the strangest conversations he had ever – and hopefully would ever – had.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that this is a day late! I am in the middle of moving house and the entire place is an utter pigsty. My internet also has been having issues recently, so everything just piled on top of each other and now I'm running late on pretty much everything.  
> This chapter seems a little cheesy to me as well, but I do hope you all like it anyway! :)

Tea had always made bad situations better, in Harry’s opinion. His memories of the days following the end of the War were of hospital visits and warming his fingers around a cup of tea that had, occasionally, been laced with Firewhisky, depending on who he had been visiting. Watching as the house-elf bustled around, doing Draco's bidding, he couldn’t help the rush of anticipation that rippled through him. He had to put his want of tea down to the nerves he was feeling over the coming conversation, as it seemed that it had been hammered into him that you always have tea when you were facing something unpleasant. This was Molly and Minerva’s influence; he was certain of it. He offered Draco a small smile when he turned and handed him a steaming cup.

 

“Thanks.”

 

At least the cup gave him something to do with his hands. Wrapping his fingers around it, he sighed happily. The steam from the chamomile tea wafted up, causing Harry’s eyes to slide closed as he took a deep breath of it. There was something strangely comforting about the scent, as it brought back memories of sitting together in the Weasley family home, snug and warm on Christmas Day. A small smile touched his lips again when his thoughts immediately went to adding Draco to those moments.

 

“You look happy.”

 

Slowly reopening his eyes, Harry stared at Draco through the steam of his tea for a few seconds before responding. “I’m going to get you a Weasley jumper this Christmas.” The look of complete shock that crossed Draco's features before he schooled them into an impassive mask had Harry’s smile widening. “A navy blue one with gold lettering, I think.”

 

“And just what makes you think Molly would be up for doing something like that for you?”

 

Harry shrugged before taking a small sip of tea. “She loves me and, even though it might not seem like it sometimes, she likes you.” He smiled again when Draco hummed before settling back against the pillows. “Draco?”

 

“I’m not sure how I feel about being ‘liked’ by a Weasley.”

 

Watching as Draco snuggled back into the soft pillows, Harry couldn’t help snorting in disbelief. “You get along with most, if not all, of the Weasleys now that they know how serious I am about this relationship lasting. You can even hold a civilised conversation with Hermione.”

 

“ _She’s_ a Granger, not a Weasley.”

 

“Still…” Harry leant over just far enough to nudge Draco with his shoulder. “You like them.”

 

“I like _you_ , you dork. They come along with you, so I had no choice.”

 

They were skirting around the issue at hand and Harry knew it. He found, however, that he was highly reluctant to actually do anything about bringing the subject up again. Following Draco's example, he settled back properly into the pillows behind him and brought his cup up to his lips again.

 

“You like me.” He liked the sound of that, despite knowing how ridiculous it was.

 

“I _love_ you.” The deadly serious tone Draco's voice had taken on told Harry that the skirting had come to an abrupt end. “And that is exactly why I am sitting here at almost half five in the morning, willing to spend the next few hours talking through this, if necessary.”

 

“Okay…” The warm feeling the light teasing they had been doing had caused to spread through Harry didn’t subside, thankfully, but his nerves did begin to sing again as he adjusted his position. “Where do you want to start?”

 

There was a small pause in which Harry could hear Draco blowing on his tea to cool it. Forcibly unclenching his fingers from around his own cup, he brought it to his lips, but didn’t take a sip. The steam wafted up his face, both warming and soothing him.

 

“Do you actually trust me? Properly?”

 

Harry nearly snorted his tea. “Start with an easy one, why don’t you?”

 

“This should be the easiest thing in the world if you really do.”

 

Placing his cup down on the bedside, Harry turned to face Draco. He was still sitting back against the pillows, his tea cup held in his hands against his chest. To the casual observer, he would have appeared completely relaxed. To Harry, however, Draco was so tense that he was surprised that he hadn’t developed a second headache. Harry’s fingers flexed with the need to reach out and touch, but he held himself back. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. He had actually been thinking over how he could prove to Draco that he trusted him, but he wasn’t entirely certain that Draco would accept what he had come up with as proof.

 

“Marcus Flint.”

 

“Excuse me?” Draco's eyes flicked over to Harry and his brow creased in obvious confusion.

 

“Marcus Flint,” Harry repeated. “You asked me once who the only other man I have ever been with was. I can’t be _absolutely_ certain – because I was completely shitfaced that night – but I think it might have been Marcus Flint. The only memories I have of that night is his deep voice in my ear and really rough hands gripping my hips. I woke up in the morning so sore I thought I would need a Healer. He, whoever he was, was long gone by that time, but there is something in my mind telling me that it was Marcus.”

 

Silence followed this statement. It stretched long enough that Harry began to worry that he had actually managed to piss Draco off more than anything else.

 

“Why are you telling me this _now_?”

 

Harry shrugged. “That is a secret I have kept for twenty years. The others – Ron, Hermione and the rest of the family – all know that I was with someone that night. Some of them know it was a random man and the rest assume that it was Ginny.” Harry couldn’t help smiling when Draco's top lip curled. “ _You_ are the only one I have ever told that I’m fairly certain I know who it was. I know it might not seem like much at this stage, but it isn’t the only thing…”

 

Taking a deep breath, Harry began to speak. He started with his childhood and everything Dudley and his Aunt and Uncle had put him through. Draco, of course, already knew the things that Harry had told everyone else about life with the Dursleys, but this was different. The true extent of their abuse was known only to themselves and Harry. Now, Harry was prepared to make Draco privy to everything he had gone through, up to and including finding the small scar that rested in his hairline and explaining how Dudley had thrown one of the broken pieces of one of his gaming console controllers straight at Harry’s head when it had shattered against the wall after being thrown in a fit of temper. Harry had to pause here when Draco held a hand up.

 

“He did _what_?”

 

“He broke the controller by throwing it against the wall when he lost the game one too many times. He then threw one of the larger pieces at me.”

 

“Where?” Draco's voice was low. “ _Harry_ …”

 

Harry had to smile a little when he didn’t move fast enough to show Draco the tiny, faded scar and got himself admonished for his tardiness. Bending his head, he ran his fingers along the right-hand side of his hairline, searching for the small bump that was the last reminder of the incident. A bright light being shone directly at him told him that Draco had retrieved his wand from the bedside to see the scar better. Draco's fingers were soft when they brushed against the spot after Harry finally found it again.

 

“Why haven’t I seen this before?”

 

Harry shrugged. “It’s tiny and unnoticeable compared to the rest of my scars?”

 

“I have studied nearly inch of you in minute detail over the past ten months, Harry. I thought I knew everything there was to you.”

 

There was a strange tone to Draco's voice, but Harry knew that he wouldn’t be able to work out just what it was. Raising his head so he could meet Draco's eyes, he smiled.

 

“You will now.”

 

Once he had exhausted the Dursleys, he moved on to fears he had had during the War: of never seeing his friends and family again; of not making it through himself; of letting everyone down and allowing Voldemort to win. He confessed that Draco not identifying him in the Manor over Easter had given him a much-needed shot of hope that probably kept him going long enough to help him move on to the next part of their plan, so to speak. He also confessed to the desperation that had pushed him towards Ginny during the Battle of Hogwarts, giving it as the reason he had been drawn to her so strongly.

 

By the time Harry had run through what he could tell Draco of his time with the Aurors, his voice was beginning to become croaky. He pushed on, however, needing to finish what he had started. It was obvious that Draco was at least interested in what he was hearing, although whether that was because it offered some insight into Harry’s mindset that he hadn’t had before, or because it was juicy gossip, Harry couldn’t be sure. Adjusting his position against the pillows, he sighed when he glanced over to the clock sitting on his bedside. He had been speaking for nearly forty-five minutes.

 

“Harry?”

 

Harry held a hand up to silence Draco's question. “I know that this is the strangest way of showing you how much I trust you, but there’s one more thing you need to know.” He waited until Draco nodded before speaking again. “I have faced down each and every one of these things, these fears in some cases, but it all pales in the face of what I have nearly done to this relationship. Losing this – losing _you_ – terrifies me, Draco. I… I don’t know whether me telling you all of this has had any kind of effect on the decision I know you need to make about me and us, but you need to know that you are the _only_ person in this world who I have trusted with this kind of information. Ron and Hermione don’t know any of it and I certainly didn’t tell Ginny anything about any of this. I’m unsure exactly why I feel this way, but I know that you won’t judge me based off anything I’ve told you.” Harry paused long enough to run a hand through his hair. “I know of no other way of proving to you that I trust you completely, but if this isn’t enough…”

 

Harry trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Staring down into his lap, he concentrated on keeping his breathing steady as his heart began to race. It was so frustrating, not knowing exactly what Draco had been thinking as he had been telling him all of his deepest-held secrets, but all Harry could do was hope that it was enough. If Draco didn’t believe him after all of this, then he was absolutely lost as to what he could do, especially considering Draco apparently thought that using his Legilimency skills on him was some kind of a violation. He jumped violently when Draco cleared his throat.

 

“Harry?”

 

“Yeah?” Harry couldn’t help closing his eyes and holding his breath in anticipation of what Draco was about to say.

 

“Would you object strongly to me murdering your Aunt, Uncle and Cousin?”

 

Harry’s breath rushed out of hm. “Excuse me?”

 

“How about Flint? Or some of the Death Eaters in Azkaban?”

 

“I, er…”

 

Turning his head so he could see Draco properly, Harry had to smile. It was always fascinating to him to see Draco with all of his defences down, and he had a feeling that this time, Draco had done it on purpose. His tea cup sat abandoned on the bedside – which Harry considered a good thing, as his hands were clenched into tight fists – and his lips were compressed into a thin line.

 

“I’d rather not have to deal with negotiating conjugal visits to Azkaban, if you don’t mind.” The tight smile he received in response seemed to come from a combination of anger and something Harry couldn’t quite identify. “Draco?”

 

“I…” Draco huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up a bit. “I understand why you told me all of this. And certain of your reactions to both me and my actions do make a lot more sense now that I know more about what you’ve seen and done. There’s really no denying that everything you’ve been through has influenced the way you interact with the world, either.”

 

Harry could feel his heart sinking with every word Draco uttered. There was a ‘but’ coming, he knew it, and his fear was that the sentence following said ‘but’ would be Draco explaining, very politely, how he couldn’t get past the idea that Harry didn’t trust him. Harry would then have to explain to each of the children why he was waking them at half six in the morning the day before the wedding and moving them and as much of their stuff as they could manage to carry back to Grimmauld. He was unsure which prospect was more terrifying: losing Draco over something like this, or having to explain the situation to Lily. Taking a deep breath and clenching his hands in his lap, he braced himself for what he suspected was coming.

 

“But?”

 

“But…” Draco sighed. “There are a _lot_ of things we have to work through for this marriage to work out. I actually agree with you that we have moved too fast in this relationship and that that has caused us to skip important markers that we really should have hit. I think it was only, what, four weeks in that I first met Lily? And that was before Ginevra began showing her craziness to the world, so really, you should have asked her whether it was alright with her if you introduced me to her daughter. I had a similar conversation with Tori about Scorpius and whether she minded you meeting him so soon. Not that we really had a choice in the end, as I believe the first time you met him properly was in the hospital that day right after my injury.

 

“It was the same with when we both met – or re-met – each other’s parents, so to speak. I’m fairly certain my parents hadn’t shown their faces in public in London for many years before they came over the day after I was injured. And I certainly hadn’t seen anything Weasley-related except for Granger, Ronald and Percy at the Ministry when I had occasion to go.

 

“And it isn’t even just obvious things like that. I know for a fact that I have communication issues. Tori has always told me that I store things up until I just explode one day. I know that it isn’t exactly a healthy way of dealing with things, but that’s just the way I have always been. You aren’t really all that much better when it comes to communication, by the way. I’m fairly certain that you don’t even have a ‘flight’ response; when it comes right down to it, it’s always ‘see things my way or I’ll thump you’. Just…”

 

Draco sighed and slid down into the bed, his hands coming up to cover his face. Harry sat and blinked at him for a few seconds, trying to process everything he had just heard. The words had been flowing out of Draco so quickly that he was afraid that he had slightly missed the point of it all, but, from what he could gather, Draco may very well be saying that, despite all their problems, everything had a chance of working out. He certainly hadn’t said anything about not believing whether Harry trusted him or not and it didn’t seem as though he was planning on finishing his thoughts with ‘oh, by the way, I’m dumping you. Get the fuck out.’ Where Harry seemed to be stuck now was between actually asking Draco whether he believed now that he trusted him and just allowing things to flow on naturally. He knew that the other problems Draco had brought up could be worked on; what he needed now was a reaction to the idea that they might or might not marry the next day. Taking a deep breath, he propped himself up on his elbow beside Draco and traced his fingertips lightly across the backs of Draco's hands. When he received a small huff of a laugh in response, Harry wrapped his fingers around one of Draco's wrists and tugged gently.

 

“Draco?”

 

“How did we manage to do this to ourselves, Harry?”

 

In the light now filtering in from the windows, Harry could see the dark bags that had formed beneath Draco's eyes. Moving on instinct again, he brushed the back of one of his fingers over Draco's cheekbone, trailing it up and around to the shell of his ear. The move ended with the palm of Harry’s hand pressed lightly against Draco's left cheekbone. He smiled when Draco's eyes fluttered closed and he pushed into the touch.

 

“I love you, Dray.”

 

Draco smiled, but his eyes stayed closed. “I know.”

 

“Basing an entire relationship around love alone and just hoping that the practical parts would fall in line after that probably wasn’t the best idea either of us have ever had.”

 

Draco's eyes opened so he could shoot Harry a lascivious grin. “Does basing it off love and brilliant sex count?”

 

All Harry really had time to do before being pulled down into a heated kiss was grin. He could feel his muscles relaxing slowly as relief spread through him. It seemed that his instincts, this time, had been correct, if the enthusiasm that Draco was kissing him with was any indication. It was only a few seconds before Harry had to pull back and gulp a lungful of air.

 

“Dray…”

 

“We _can_ work on this.”

 

“We can.”

 

“Marriage won’t fix a single thing, though.”

 

“I know. But if you’re willing to work with me, then I’m sure we can reach a compromise on most things. And the things we can’t compromise on, well…”

 

“We’ll work on.”

 

Harry nodded. “We will.”

 

“Alright, then…” Draco paused long enough to take what sounded like a steadying breath. “This won’t be easy.”

 

“No, it won’t.” The sensation of Draco's fingers trailing softly up his back caused goosebumps to rise all along Harry’s arms. “Do you want easy? Because we have the option of postponing the wedding.”

 

A combination of nerves and desire fluttered through Harry’s stomach when Draco's eyes locked on his. He really didn’t want to postpone anything, but if that was what was best for Draco, then that was what they would do.

 

“No, I…” Taking a deep breath, Draco let it out in a forceful rush. Harry could almost pinpoint the second he came to the decision. “No. I don’t want to postpone the wedding. These problems, they’re all things we can work on. It may not be the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but I want to marry you and I don’t want to delay it.”

 

Harry couldn’t help grinning. “Marrying me is stupid?”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

Before Harry could respond again, Draco pulled him down into another harsh kiss. Relaxing into it, he allowed himself to be rolled over so that Draco was hovering over him on his elbows.

 

“We’re good?”

 

Draco nodded decisively. “We’re good. And we now have children to face and deal punishments out to.” He laughed when Harry groaned. “Together.”

 

Harry couldn’t help the small sigh he let out. “Together.”


	37. Chapter 37

“Dad?”

 

“James?”

 

Draco paused just outside the door that led into the room that had belonged to Sirius Black in Grimmauld Place. Having spent the past few minutes traipsing through the house in search of Harry – he hadn’t before realised just how large it was, as they had only been using a portion of it until then –  he found himself quite glad to have finally located him. He knew for a fact that Lily, Scorpius and Albus were spread out through various other rooms of the house, as he had discovered each of them on his search for Harry. What he hadn’t expected was to find Harry in the same room as James, who was supposed to be starting his punishment, just as the rest of their children already were.

 

These past two days had been some of the strangest – and most frustrating – of Draco's life. Spending the early part of the morning in discussion with Harry had left Draco feeling a little raw and exposed, but it had been the children that had really done a number on him. It had been a little jarring when Draco had come to the realisation that Harry had apparently been right: it really did seem that he and Astoria had raised Scorpius in a manner that was very different to how Harry and Ginevra had raised James, Al and Lily. As such, Scorpius had very different ideas of what his punishment was going to be to what Harry’s kids did. This was one of the things that Draco knew he, Harry and Astoria needed to have a proper discussion about sometime in the near future, but it seemed to him that they had come to a nice compromise that morning: each of the children had been assigned a particular set of rooms in Grimmauld Place that they were to clean without the aid of magical cleaning products. None of the children were happy about this, as it differed at least slightly to how they were used to being punished, but it seemed to Draco that it was only fair, as Grimmauld had been the focus of what had gotten them into so much strife in the first place. What appeared to be slightly unfair, however, was that Harry seemed to be up here helping James. Draco nearly jumped when James’ voice floated out of the open door towards him again.

 

“You’re getting married tomorrow.”

 

“Yes, I am.” There was a touch of amusement to Harry’s voice that caused Draco to smile, although he didn’t know why.

 

“Aren’t you nervous? It’s just, you really don’t seem to be.”

 

There was a slight pause in which Draco held his breath. He didn’t know whether Harry would answer James if he knew they had an audience.

 

“Jamie, I haven’t been surer about anything else I have done in years than I have been about this wedding. I know Draco and I haven’t done things the normal, regular way like we probably should have, but… I can’t doubt him. After everything we’ve been through together during our relationship, it shouldn’t have lasted. We should have combusted long before now, but we haven’t. That, to me, is a huge indicator that this is something that will last; that it’s true.”

 

Something strange swirled through Draco's stomach at the assured tone to Harry’s voice. Slowly backing away, he put enough distance between himself and the doorway to the room so that he couldn’t hear what Harry was saying to James any longer. If he was to be truly honest with himself, then Draco knew that he had known what Harry’s response would be before he had even given it. There could be no denying Harry’s loyalty to him, but to hear it spoken so openly and frankly like that without Harry even knowing that Draco could hear him…

 

Draco was unable to prevent the wide smile that spread across his face. His first instinct was, of course, to go straight to Harry and demonstrate exactly what he was feeling. The thought of pushing the emotions to the back of his mind and rebuilding his shields never once occurred to him, for once. With the warmth of Harry’s words spreading through him, he set off towards the room again, making much more noise than he usually would to let them know they were no longer alone.

 

“Harry?”

 

The murmur of voices stopped briefly after Draco spoke, but he continued on. It wasn’t until he reached the doorway that Harry responded.

 

“In here. I was helping Jamie move some furniture so he could clean beneath it.”

 

Harry’s expression changed from caution to confusion the second he glanced up into Draco's eyes. Unable to help himself, Draco continued to smile at him even as Harry seemed to become more and more confused.

 

“Draco?”

 

Instead of responding to Harry, Draco turned to face James. “Do you mind if I borrow your Dad for a while, Jamie?”

 

James’ face seemed to echo the confusion on Harry’s for a few seconds before he replied. “Er, yeah, sure. Go right ahead.”

 

With a last glance to James, Harry followed Draco out of the room, his confusion only seeming to increase when Draco grabbed hold of his wrist. “Draco, what…?”

 

Tugging gently on Harry’s wrist, Draco pulled him towards the room they had caught the boys in the previous day. They hadn’t bothered cleaning any of the gunk from the walls or floor of the room that had been blown out from the protection charms, but that wasn’t what Draco wanted to focus on. And neither was the still untouched chamber in which Regulus had hidden whatever it was he wanted the boys to find. He waited until Harry had stepped into the room before flicking his wand to close and lock the door behind them.

 

“Draco, I – mmmph!”

 

Harry’s words were cut off the second he began to speak as Draco stepped forward and pressed their bodies together. Pushing Harry backwards until his back hit the door, Draco was determined that he wasn’t going allow him to speak again. The second Harry hit the door, Draco pounced. Wrapping his arms securely around Harry’s waist, he pulled them as close together as he could manage before sealing their mouths together in a harsh kiss.

 

There was nothing gentle or graceful about this kiss, fuelled as it was by the warmth of Harry’s previous words and Draco's own need of him. It took a few seconds for Harry to begin to respond, but when he did, it was with the same fervour that Draco had begun it all with. His arms slid up and around Draco's shoulders, one hand coming to rest between his shoulder blades and the other to tangle in his hair. _This_ is what Draco had been craving since that morning: having Harry in his arms, warm, pliable, and willing to do whatever he asked.

 

Draco shifted his stance a little, causing Harry to moan into his mouth. The move caused their hips to slide together, giving Draco the perfect image of just what his actions were doing to Harry. Unfortunately, it also caused Harry’s glasses to press painfully into Draco's cheekbone. He let out a frustrated noise before breaking the kiss to rip them from Harry’s face and toss them onto whatever piece of furniture was standing next to them. Harry blinked at him for a few seconds, his eyes unfocussed with what Draco could clearly tell was desire. Their breath mingled for a few seconds, coming in harsh pants, before Draco couldn’t resist any longer. Drawing Harry back into another kiss earned him a low chuckle, almost as though Harry had known that they weren’t done with this just yet.

 

This time, however, Harry seemed to be a little more in control of himself. His hands began to wander almost the second their lips reconnected. It was slow at first – just the movement of the hand in Draco's hair down to his back – but Harry soon seemed to become a little bolder. Massaging his fingers into Draco's muscles, his hands moved confidently downwards, hitting certain of Draco's hotspots on the way. Shifting closer still, Draco allowed his mind to wander. This unrelenting need he had of Harry hadn’t been dimmed one tiny bit by the fights they had had, or by his own stupid doubts and insecurities. Everything he felt was just as strong now as it had been when they had first begun sleeping together. It was fuelled by different emotions, sure, but they were no less potent. He still wanted Harry with a force that he could hardly believe. He wanted… Draco let out a deep groan of his own when Harry’s hands reached his arse and squeezed. He _wanted_ … In that moment, Draco knew exactly what he wanted. With Harry’s hands on his arse and the evidence of Harry’s desire for him pressing into his hip, Draco figured that there could only be one thing that he wanted: he wanted to be fucked. Wanted it with every fibre of his being, if the tingling of his skin and nerve endings was any indication.

 

“Draco,” Harry groaned when he finally broke the kiss.

 

“I want you.”

 

“We can’t.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Not here.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Not _now_.”

 

“I know.”

 

Harry paused, seeming to be catching his breath a little. “I want you, too.”

 

“I know.” Draco shifted his hips slightly, causing Harry’s breath to hitch. He grinned. “I can tell.”

 

“What–” Harry’s voice cracked, causing Draco's grin to widen into a true smile. “What brought this on? I haven’t seen you this open in a while.”

 

Draco had to resist the urge to shrug; a bad habit he had no doubt picked up from Harry. “It’s been too long.”

 

“It’s been a few days.”

 

“Fine. But it _seems_ like a lot longer than that.”

 

This frank statement was met with another low chuckle from Harry. The sound vibrated through Draco's chest, sending shivers down his spine and telling him that he needed to take a few steps back; needed some breathing room. Disentangling himself from Harry’s embrace, he almost slipped on some of the muck still left over from the protection charms.

 

“Come on. I need distracting.”

 

Moving so he was standing right at the edge of the chamber the boys had opened the day before, Draco cast all kinds of cleaning and scouring charms at the floor in an attempt to clean it a little. He huffed out a frustrated breath when none of them worked.

 

“If those charms didn’t work on the boys themselves, then why would they work on the floor?”

 

“Shut-up, Potter.”

 

“You need to actually clean it.”

 

Draco rolled his eyes before pointing his wand at a spot at the edge of the mess. “ _Aguamenti_.”

 

He wasn’t expecting it to work. In fact, Draco was much more expecting it to just annoy Harry, rather than to have any effect on the black mess that had covered each of their boys the day before. So it was with no small amount of shock that he realised that the rush of water he had sent at the spot had shifted some of it. It took a little while before Draco was able to find just the right amount of power to put into the spell, but with Harry following behind him with a harsh scouring charm, they managed to get most of the worst of the black mess off the floor. Once the floor was clean enough for Draco to be willing to kneel down on it, he turned back to Harry.

 

“Well?” He could see the sudden jolt of nerves on Harry’s face as clear as if he had spoken the feeling aloud. “Do you want me to?”

 

“I – er…” Harry paused long enough to raise his glasses up to his forehead – Draco figured he must have grabbed them when he had his back turned – and to scrub his hands against his eyes. “I don’t know. I have no idea whether I even _want_ to know what’s in there or not.”

 

“We _could_ leave it for after the wedding if you want.”

 

Watching Harry as he was, Draco would have had difficulty missing the moment he seemed to come to a decision. Removing his hands from his eyes, he straightened his shoulders and looked Draco in the eyes.

 

“No. I think this is something we need to do before the wedding.” The resolve Draco could see in Harry’s eyes sent a wave of sympathy through him and he went to reach for him just before Harry spoke again, in a much quieter voice. “I want to put all of this shit behind us.”

 

Finding that he completely agreed with that sentiment, Draco grasped Harry’s wrist again, although this time it wasn’t about moving or directing him, but more a gesture of comfort. When Harry smiled at him in return, he knew it had been the right move. Stepping aside so Harry could have access to the hole in the floor, Draco took a steadying breath. He had expected to feel nervous when they decided to discover what the boys – and Regulus – had gone to all this trouble for. What he hadn’t expected was the rush of excitement that jolted through him. His fingers flexed in Harry’s hand as they knelt down before the hole. Harry reached in without hesitation.

 

“…Draco?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I need my other hand back.”

 

“Oh.” Draco frowned down at where he had Harry’s hand clenched in his own. “Sorry.”

 

The very first thing Harry managed to pull out of the chamber was what appeared to be a sheaf of papers. Draco had no idea what he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been that and he felt the bubble of excitement in his chest deflate a little. Harry placed the papers aside and reached in again, this time coming up with a small box.

 

“That’s it.”

 

Draco blinked. “What?”

 

“These papers and this box are all that’s in there.”

 

“You’re shitting me.”

 

Ignoring Harry’s amused-sounding huff of breath, Draco pushed him aside and leant over the hole in the floor. Sure enough, the only things left in there were thirty years of dust bunnies, some scraps of what was apparently bits of rubbish that had managed to make its way into the chamber over the years and even more of the black residue.

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco huffed out a frustrated breath. Grabbing his wand, he cast a few revealing charms into the chamber. When none of them revealed anything, he reached in himself and felt around, making sure Harry hadn’t missed anything.

 

“Draco?”

 

“This can’t be all! Who hides a few papers and a bloody box for thirty years?”

 

“Maybe the man who managed to get his hands on the entire history of the Black family?”

 

Draco froze. “Excuse me?”

 

“ _Look_.”

 

It turned out that the sheaf of papers was actually a loosely bound book, of sorts. Draco turned so he was facing Harry on the floor and watched as he flipped slowly through the pages. Pages and pages of scratchy handwriting flicked past his eyes as Harry flipped through the book and Draco managed to catch a few words here and there. Names such as _Araminta Meliflua_ , _Alphard Black, Elladora Black_ and _Lysandra Yaxley_ all caught Draco's eye as they flicked by. They were all names that he recognised as being from his Mother’s side of the family, having been well-versed in them as a child.

 

“Harry?”

 

“It’s the history of your family, Draco.”

 

Harry’s eyes were wide and brimming with what Draco could only term a boyish joy. He offered up a small smile in return.

 

“May I?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Harry readily handed the book over. The paper – not parchment, Draco noted – was delicate and Draco automatically cast a protection charm over it, just in case. Flicking through the pages, he realised just why Regulus would have thought that the current owner of Grimmauld Place would want to get their hands on this document. Of course, he figured, Regulus would have assumed that the current owner of Grimmauld Place was a member of the Black family. Not that that made even the tiniest bit of difference to the importance of this find to Draco. He knew that Harry would look after the papers just as he was going to look after the house now that it was back in use.

 

“Draco?”

 

“Hmm?” Draco glanced up to see that Harry had opened the small box that he had also pulled out of the chamber. “What is that?”

 

“Take a look.”

 

Placing the papers down carefully, Draco took the box from Harry’s outstretched hand. It wasn’t very large – just big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, in fact – and it was covered in a soft black satin that ran smoothly beneath Draco's fingers even after all these years. The Black family crest was emblazoned on the top of the lid along with the family motto: _Toujours pur_. Inside, the box was lined with a cream-coloured velvet, on top of which sat several pieces of jewellery. Draco ran his fingers reverently over the shiny silver of the pieces, feeling them shimmer with power beneath them.

 

“Harry?”

 

“I ran some tests while you were looking at the book. It seems they all have some form of protection charm placed on them.”

 

Draco hadn’t removed his eyes from the silver – which he now suspected to be either white gold or platinum – pieces. The necklace, which had caught his eye first, was a simple chain, with the Black family crest dangling as a charm off it. Two cufflinks, also emblazoned with the family crest, nestled just above the necklace in the box, with a matching men’s and women’s ring set to complete the set. They were, in a word, _beautiful_.

 

“Draco?”

 

Unable to tear his eyes away from the jewellery sitting in his lap, Draco shook his head. “I didn’t expect this.”

 

Draco had never really known all that much about the Black side of his family heritage. His Mother, of course, still held to the traditional Black values in most things, but until his Aunt Bellatrix arrived back in his life when he had been a teenager, Draco had never known another member of his Mother’s family. Of course, now he had his Aunt Andromeda and Teddy, but he hadn’t begun to get to know them until Harry had come into his life again. This, however, _this_ was something real; something that truly belonged to a true Black family member. This was a connection to his family that Draco had never thought he would have. It was a little overwhelming to think of.

 

“Hey.” Draco heard the scrape of fabric on the wooden floor just before Harry ran a hand through his hair. “Draco? You alright?”

 

Draco automatically leant into the touch. The move caused Harry’s hand to slide down the side of his face so his fingers could brush lightly against Draco's cheekbone in the gesture of comfort that always had Draco's insides shivering with need. This time, however, it was truly comfort that Draco took from it. He closed his eyes as he was assaulted by a range of emotions so strong that he didn’t have a hope of distinguishing between them.

 

“I’m good.” He nodded, although he kept his eyes closed. “I’m good.”

 

“Dray.”

 

The sound of Harry’s jeans scraping on the floor reached Draco's ears just before Harry’s other hand came up to the opposite side of Draco's face. Harry put a light pressure on Draco's chin with his fingers, tilting his head upwards from his lap. When Draco's eyes fluttered open again, it was to find Harry watching him with an adoration in his eyes that caused Draco to give him what felt like a slightly watery smile. Harry opened his mouth, seemingly in preparation of saying something, but instead, just shook his head. Leaning in, he sealed their lips together in a rather chaste kiss.

 

“I love seeing you without those Occlumency shields of yours up. Especially when you look so happy.”

 

Draco's smile widened. He knew that Harry was the cause of a lot of his happiness these days, but there was no way he was going to say something that sappy to him directly.

 

“I love you.”

 

Harry’s responding smile could have lit up the entire house if it had any power behind it. “I know.”

 

“Dad?”

 

Draco had never thought he would be disappointed to hear his own son’s voice. Shaking his head, he straightened up.

 

“I’ll be out in a minute, Scorp.” Drawing back away from Harry, Draco sighed. “What do you want to do with these?”

 

Harry’s responding frown looked both confused and conflicted. “I, er… How do you feel about taking them back to a safe place in the Manor until tonight? We can decide what to do with them when we get back.”

 

_We_. Draco was unable to control the smile that stretched across his face. Nodding, he stood up from his kneeling position, wincing as his knees cracked again. Harry’s soft chuckle in response had Draco reaching out to swat him on the arm, which only increased Harry’s mirth. Draco was grinning like an idiot when he finally made it out to the hallway where Scorpius was waiting for him.


	38. Chapter 38

Draco was a patient man; always had been. The wait until a so-called ‘reasonable hour’ for him to drag Harry upstairs that night seemed interminable, however. After taking the papers and jewellery back to the safe in the Manor, Draco had supervised the children as they continued to clean. He had distracted himself during lunch by answering questions about the wedding for Lily. By the time James was stretching and yawning more often than anything else that night, Draco had been watching him impatiently over the top of the newspaper he had definitely _not_ been reading for the past hour. Still, he had had to wait a further twenty minutes for Harry to quietly suggest to James that maybe it was time he took himself off to bed. They did have a big day ahead the next day, after all.

 

Draco had followed the two of them up the stairs, keeping a proper distance between himself and Harry; partly because that gave him the absolute perfect view of Harry’s arse while he climbed the stairs ahead of him, but also partly because he didn’t truly trust himself at that point in time. He and James had made so much progress in their relationship over the summer that he was not willing to risk ruining it all by acting like a randy moron in front of him. He had continued on to their suite of rooms while Harry had said goodnight.

 

Pacing the length of the little sitting room in their suite, Draco had stretched his fingers and clenched them in turn. The rush of anticipation over what he was going to request from Harry that night was causing his fingers to tremble a little, but he had known that there was nothing he could do about that. Not without very specific assistance, at any rate. He’d waited almost as long as he could wait, he had thought, and had just been going to step out of the room to find out where Harry had gotten himself off to when the door had opened. Harry had stood in the doorway, staring at Draco with a desire so strong that Draco was still slightly surprised that he had managed to allow Harry to step into the room properly before pouncing. He’d been patient and he’d waited Harry out and now… _Now_ …

 

“ _Draco_ ,” Harry groaned as Draco shoved him back against the door.

 

“It’s been too long, Harry.” Draco pressed as close as he could get and nipped his way along the shell of Harry’s ear. “I need you.”

 

“It’s b…” Harry let out a shaky breath as his entire body shuddered, causing Draco to grin against the skin of his throat. “Been two or three days.”

 

Sliding one thigh in between Harry’s legs, Draco began to move. Not fast or anywhere near as frantic as the rushing of the blood through his veins was demanding, but slow and steady. If he was going to do this, then he was going to do it properly, he figured, with a real build up rather than a straight-up demand.

 

“The fact that you can’t remember whether it has been two or three days isn’t a point in your favour, you know.”

 

Draco couldn’t help giving what felt like an almost feral grin when Harry’s only response for a while was a series of harsh pants as he tried to catch his breath. Deciding to give Harry some time to contemplate his answer, Draco traced his fingertips around the waistband of Harry’s jeans before leaning in to nibble along his jawline.

 

“I – I…” Draco grinned again when Harry faltered. “I don’ wanna think, Dray… Not right now…”

 

“ _Good_.”

 

Running his hands up Harry’s chest beneath his shirt, Draco proceeded to use all of his knowledge of Harry’s body to work him up slowly. He kept his thigh firmly wedged between Harry’s legs to create the friction they both obviously needed as his hands wandered, pinching, squeezing and kneading various hotspots and muscles. Draco's mouth was just as busy as his hands, sucking on Harry’s earlobes, nibbling on his jaw, and biting gently on his lips. When Draco dipped his tongue into Harry’s mouth, Harry responded with a deep moan that vibrated through Draco's chest. Draco was unable to prevent the laugh he let out into the kiss.

 

“Draco…” Harry rolled his hips, causing need to shoot through every one of Draco's nerve endings. “Draco, please…”

 

“I want…”

 

Draco pulled back a little so he could take a steadying breath. Harry’s fingers dug into his shoulders, not allowing him to move too far, but all he wanted was to have enough room to see Harry’s expression.

 

“I want to switch positions tonight.”

 

Harry blinked in response, his eyes magnified to an abnormal size by his glasses. “Whatever you want; just get on with it.”

 

Draco had to smile when it became clear that Harry hadn’t understood him. Leaning in, he brushed their lips together softly.

 

“Harry.” He waited until Harry met his eyes. “I want to switch _roles_.” He nipped at the corner of Harry’s mouth. “Not a new position.”

 

“You want…”

 

Pulling back, Draco grinned as Harry’s eyes widened. “I want you inside me.”

 

Draco had no idea what to expect as Harry’s reaction. A number of emotions flashed across Harry’s face, but Draco was unable to read them all, they passed so quickly.

 

“You’re sure?”

 

“I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t sure.”

 

Harry barely gave Draco enough time to take another breath after speaking before he dragged him down into a harsh kiss. The usual frantic pace Harry set whenever Draco let go of some of his control seemed to be the way things were headed this time as well, if the rate at which they managed to shed their clothing on the way to the bedroom was any indicator. Not that Draco minded much this time, as he had been anticipating this since before lunch. By the time he was lying spread out on the bed before Harry, he was panting harshly.

 

“Harry…”

 

Kneeling between Draco's spread legs, Harry grinned. “Shush.”

 

Unable to help it, one of Draco's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “‘Shush’? Did you just–”

 

His words were cut off when Harry leant forward to lick a stripe up the underside of his straining cock. Draco's breath hissed out between his teeth as a jolt of pure pleasure arced through him.

 

“Yes, Draco. _Shush_.”

 

It seemed to Draco that now Harry had him on the bed, he was in no hurry to ‘get on with it’, as he had demanded Draco do not five minutes before. Again, Draco had no idea what exactly to expect – not teenage-style first-time fumbling, and certainly not confident and assured movements – but what he definitely hadn’t thought to expect was for Harry to begin to explore him. Harry’s hands moved along Draco's body just as Draco had done to him earlier, only they hit different spots. Draco's back arched when Harry bit down lightly on his collarbone, his breathing hitched when Harry’s fingers danced over the left-hand side of his ribcage, and he almost lost all control when Harry raised his legs so he could nip at the sensitive skin of his thighs.

 

“Christ, Potter, if you don’t…” Draco's words cut off again when Harry’s tongue flicked along the underside of his cock again. “Harry…”

 

“ _Yes_.”

 

Draco felt the touch of the preparation charms and in the next second, Harry was _right there_ on top of him. Raising his legs a little further, he hooked his ankles behind Harry’s back, hoping to not only give him better access, but also to hurry him up. Hovering over him, Harry was one of the most stunning sights Draco had ever seen: his swollen lips parted as he panted, his pupils blown wide, and his wild hair finally looking like real bed hair rather than just a complete mess. Draco grinned as Harry settled down on top of him properly.

 

“I love you.”

 

Harry’s responding smile could only be called wicked. “ _I know_.”

 

With that, he leant down to capture Draco's lips in a harsh kiss, swallowing the laugh that erupted out of Draco as his own so common response to Harry was thrown back at him. Despite his ability to turn Draco on, Harry’s actions still gave away that this was the first time he had done this. With careful, almost hesitant movements, he rocked his hips forward slowly. Draco wasn’t sure if he was savouring the feeling or just nervous, but he figured that he had better step in, so to speak. Breaking the kiss, he rested their foreheads together for a few seconds.

 

“Faster.”

 

“Dra–”

 

“I’m not delicate, Harry.”

 

“But it’s been–”

 

“Harry!” Draco waited until Harry met his eyes. “I’ll tell you to slow down if you’re going too fast. But right now, I need you to _move_.”

 

Squeezing his muscles around Harry seemed to have the right effect: Harry’s breath shuddered out of him and his hips jerked forward. Draco's eyes slid shut as a combination of pleasure and pain shot through him. He knew Harry was right and that it had been a long time since he had done this, but the demand in his blood was refusing to let up. Throwing his head back against the pillow, Draco's hands clenched into the sheet beneath him when Harry’s hips rested fully against his.

 

“Draco?”

 

Draco could hear the strain in Harry’s voice; could feel the tremble in the arms holding him up. Releasing a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding, he reopened his eyes. The look Harry gifted him with – his eyes full of wonder, almost as though Draco was some kind of a miracle – had him smiling all over again.

 

“Good; it’s good…” Draco waited until the burn had subsided a little before squeezing his muscles again, earning himself a groan. “Now.”

 

Harry’s movements were still a little hesitant for a while, but when he realised that Draco wasn’t objecting at all, he seemed to gain confidence. By the time Harry found his rhythm, Draco's head was beginning to swim a little. Unable to control it, one of his hands began to clench in the sheet, while the other flew up to grasp the back of Harry’s neck. Pulling him down gave Draco a bit more friction and he let out a ragged breath.

 

The sensation of letting go of his tightly held control and handing the reins over to someone else after so long seemed to be giving Draco a different kind of release altogether, if the feeling of freedom rapidly spreading through him was any indication. His grip on Harry’s neck tightened as his stomach muscles clenched.

 

“God, Harry…” Desire coiled rapidly through Draco's stomach, swirling and twisting, leaving heat and an unsatisfied need in its wake. “ _Fuck_ …”

 

Finding that he had apparently lost all control of his own actions, the hand that had been clenched in the sheet moved to grasp Harry’s hip. Canting his hips upwards, Draco put some pressure on Harry’s hip, pulling him closer; deeper. The new angle seemed to be just the right one, as Harry’s next thrust hit Draco's prostate, causing him to see stars. He knew he was speaking – could even hear the words – but neither knew nor cared what he was saying. With his arms wrapped tightly around Harry, he let go completely. Throwing his head back, he pulled Harry closer, trying to get him deeper and deeper each thrust. It wasn’t long before the swirling heat in his stomach was becoming too much for Draco to be able to stand.

 

“Harry… _Please_ …”

 

It only took one more hit to his prostate for Draco to tip over the edge. He let out a string of what he thought were expletives, but couldn’t really be sure as his body began to spasm in orgasm. He could hear Harry murmuring in his ear, but again, he couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. Harry collapsed down on top of him as Draco's orgasm finally released him, the both of them falling into a boneless heap on the bed.

 

*~*

 

“No one ever forced me.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Harry blinked, attempting to pull himself out of the stupor his orgasm had settled over him. He had had no idea that when Draco had mentioned ‘wanting him’ earlier that day, that _this_ would have been the result. But, taking into consideration his current state of complete relaxation as he lay half-on and half-off of Draco's chest, he was _so_ thankful it had.

 

“What an eloquent response, Potter.”

 

There was a hint of humour to Draco's tone, causing Harry to grin. “Sorry, I er…” He glanced over to the – now repaired – alarm clock on Draco's bedside, which told him he had been just lying there for close to an hour. “Sorry.”

 

“You’ve already said that.”

 

“Well, ex _cuse_ me, Mr. Malfoy,” Harry responded automatically, using a ridiculously formal tone in an attempt to needle Draco into a response. “But apparently some of us don’t recover as fast as others these days.”

 

“Oh, no. If you want another round, you’re waiting until tomorrow morning.”

 

The movement of Draco's muscles as he stretched his arms over his head had Harry smiling as memories flashed through his mind. He wasn’t allowed to fall back into them, however, as Draco cleared his throat.

 

“That wasn’t what I…”

 

Harry frowned when Draco trailed off. Pushing himself up onto his knees – God _damn_ it, he ached! – he groped around the bedside behind him for his wand. When he lit the tip and shone it towards the head of the bed, it was to see Draco watching him with what Harry considered to be a rather serious expression for someone who had just been doing what they had been doing. His mind, of course, jumped straight to whatever it was he could have done wrong. Had he hurt Draco somehow? Surely he would have realised, right?

 

“Harry?” Harry jumped, causing Draco to shake his head. “Whatever you’re thinking, you should probably stop.”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

Draco shook his head again. “Nothing. I do have something I need to tell you, though.” When Harry didn’t move, Draco sighed. “ _Tell you_ , Potter, not accuse you of. Will you please just relax and lie back down?”

 

His heart thumping in his chest, Harry nodded slowly. This night – and, really, this whole day – had been full of new experiences for him. Most of the experiences had been good and Harry was really hoping that they could go into the day of their wedding on a good note, rather than starting it with the leftover resentment an argument would cause. He left the tip of his wand lit, but laid it down on the covers as he shifted up to the top of the bed again. His nerves shivered when Draco let out a breath.

 

“This morning, you told me things that… Well, things that I would assume that you never wanted anyone else to know, am I right?” He smiled when Harry nodded again. “In that case, this is my chance to return the favour.”

 

Harry couldn’t help frowning. “What do you mean?”

 

“You never wondered why I have never allowed us to do _this_ ” – he gestured between the two of them – “before tonight?”

 

Harry could feel his eyes widening as the realisation of what Draco was trying to say sank in. Of course he had wondered why Draco had never bottomed for him but, if he was being completely honest with himself, then most of the time, he had been too caught up in the sex they were already having to worry about why he wasn’t allowed to try something different. Well, he figured, that combined with his reluctance to pry too deep into what he saw as Draco's private thoughts. Draco's past had never bothered Harry beyond wanting to know more about him and he had figured that if Draco wanted him to know, then he would tell him. It seemed that the time had come, now, however.

 

“Of course I wondered, but I didn’t want to push too hard.”

 

“Well…” Draco sighed as he shoved himself up into a sitting position beside Harry. “Now you don’t have to push.”

 

When Draco fell silent again, Harry moved a little closer and ran the tips of his fingers down Draco's left forearm, then on to clasp their hands together gently. “You don’t have to.”

 

“No, but I want to. We’re going to be married tomorrow, so you have a right to know.” Draco paused just long enough to take a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “First of all, you have to know that I was never forced into doing anything I’m going to tell you about. I went into everything with the full knowledge that I may get hurt, that some of it at least bordered on being illegal, and that I was bound to be absolutely humiliated if any of it got out.”

 

The second Harry nodded in acknowledgement, Draco began to speak. Beginning from just after the end of the War, Harry learned that Draco had given permission to some of the older and slightly rougher men to ‘use’ him, in Draco's words. Harry was one hundred percent certain that he did _not_ want to know any of the details and, after a quick glance in his direction, it seemed that Draco deemed it appropriate to not continue down that path.

 

“I was never seriously injured during my time with those men, but they also were never gentle with me. They knew me, they knew my Father, and they obviously felt they had the right to take whatever they wanted from me. And I let them.”

 

“Was it…” Harry trailed off, not wanting to finish the question, but it seemed Draco had sensed what he wanted to know anyway.

 

“A punishment for what I had done, I think. Your testimony had allowed me to escape Azkaban, which I will forever be grateful for; especially where it concerns my parents. But I felt as though I needed to either prove myself, or make amends of some kind.”

 

“The charity work wasn’t enough?” All of wizarding London knew of the generous donations the Malfoy family had made after the War. “You had to…”

 

Draco sighed. “The charity work wasn’t me. Those donations would have been made whether you had won the War or not. It’s simply something that happens with the old families. This was personal.”

 

Harry sat in silence for a while. His heart was now thumping in his chest again, although for a completely different reason. If he allowed himself to really think about it for a few minutes, then he knew that, in the back of his mind, he had known that Draco had done something like this after the War. That knowledge didn’t prevent anger from bubbling up inside him at an alarming rate, however. He’d known – hell, they’d _all_ known – that the ex-Death Eaters had had a hard time during those first few years. As an Auror, he had been called out to all kinds of disputes between all kinds of people, and even he had realised that most of his collars were people who had been exonerated after the War for various reasons. So many of them had returned to the criminal lives they had been living pre-War and had wound up in Azkaban anyway that it had been a running joke that the Aurors were out collecting those the Ministry had let slip through the cracks.

 

“You were punishing yourself?”

 

“I was.”

 

Harry let out a controlled breath. “ _Please_ tell me this didn’t last until you married Tori.”

 

Draco let out a small sound that told Harry he was smiling, even if he couldn’t see it. “No, it didn’t. It was two years only. By then I had made enough connections – and grown up enough – so that I could make my own decisions when it came to my sex life. As it turns out, there are many men out there who would have liked to have been able to brag about having bedded a Death Eater.”

 

“And also quite a few who would have liked to be able to brag that they had bedded a Malfoy?”

 

This time Harry turned his head enough so that he could catch the small smile that crossed Draco's lips. The anger still boiled away inside him, but seeing Draco smile like that did go a little way to helping Harry to suppress it. He couldn’t help smiling in return.

 

“From then on you were much more discerning?”

 

Draco's smile widened a little. “From then on, I never trusted anyone enough to touch me that way again. Until tonight.”

 

A small shiver wound its way through Harry, causing him to roll his shoulders. It had occurred to him that Draco allowing him this kind of liberty with him had some kind of meaning behind it, but he had been too distracted by the actual physical act to pay much attention to the reasons behind it. Now, however… He tightened the grip he had on Draco's hand, squeezing it as he leant in to cup his other hand behind Draco's head and draw him into a soft kiss.

 

“Thank you.”

 

After everything they had been through these past few weeks, this moment right here felt almost as though it was releasing something for Harry. Another, much stronger, shiver ran through him when Draco pulled him back into the kiss rather than responding verbally. He had gifted Harry with something that he hadn’t given anyone in a very long time that night. For Harry, it was an indication of the level of trust Draco had in him more than anything else and he was absolutely determined that he would be worthy of that trust in the years to come.


	39. Chapter 39

“Are you absolutely certain you’re right on your own for a while?”

 

Draco rolled his eyes. “Blaise, I am a grown man. I have been able to dress myself properly for a while now; your assistance in that regard isn’t required.”

 

The sceptical look Blaise shot Draco in return before exiting the small changing room had him smiling a little in response. Turning his back on the door, Draco faced the full-length mirror and took in the sight of himself dressed in his full formalwear for the wedding. The pale blue highlighted his eyes nicely, with the cream-coloured accents – strangely enough – lending his pale skin a warmer glow than it usually held. It wasn’t himself that he was focussed on, however. He knew that, just across the church hall in another changing room, Harry was currently probably doing the exact same thing he was: standing in front of the mirror, examining himself in the clothing they were about to be married in. The thought sent a shiver of anticipation down Draco's spine.

 

He had actually expected to be a lot more nervous than he currently was, but there had been a sense of _right_ flowing through him since the previous night and Harry’s reaction to what Draco had confessed to him. Not that he had felt that what they were doing was wrong in any way before the previous night… Draco shook his head as his mind began to wander over the rest of their relationship. He knew that, technically, what they had shouldn’t work. They were too volatile, they had too much history that went against them being able to have a normal relationship, their family histories worked against them… Despite it all, though, Draco just _knew_ that this was right. He was drawn out of his thoughts by the door opening silently behind him.

 

“How are your nerves?” Pansy’s voice was low, as though she were asking about a deeply hidden secret. “Do I need to put my escape plan into action?”

 

Turning slowly from the mirror, Draco raised an eyebrow in question. “You have an escape plan?” He rolled his eyes when Pansy nodded matter-of-factly. “For me.”

 

“Of course.” Her tone was so practical that Draco couldn’t help shaking his head in disbelief. “Well, considering how grateful Blaise would have been for an escape route from at least two of his marriages, I figured that I should come prepared this time.”

 

With the anticipation and excitement of the day rushing through his system, Draco was helpless to prevent the wide grin he gave in response. “Exactly which part of this very committed and happy relationship made you think I would react the same way Blaise would?”

 

Cocking her head to the side, Pansy offered Draco a small smile. “You should always be prepared for every possible scenario; you know that.” She paused just long enough to run her eyes the length of him. “Even if those scenarios seem impossible.”

 

Still unable to stop his current happiness from showing on his face, Draco ducked his head instead of trying to prevent the smile. He’d known that Pansy knew that he was more committed to this relationship than he had been about anything that he had been involved in before this, which was why he hadn’t taken her ‘offer’ seriously. It was nice to know that she was thinking of him, though, even if it was for completely the wrong reasons. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“Pans?” She was watching him with amusement clear in her eyes when he glanced up. “I’m getting married. For real this time.”

 

The wide smile that Pansy gave Draco in response just before she drew him into her arms was so rare that Draco was taken slightly by surprise. As a consequence, he nearly stumbled when he had to lean down into the embrace, despite Pansy’s ever-present heels.

 

“I love that he makes you so happy, Draco,” she whispered in his ear once he was finally able to stabilise himself. “But no one will ever find his body if he fucks this up in any way.”

 

The laugh the bubbled up out of Draco sounded a little delirious to his ears. “It’s good to know I still have someone like you to watch my back.” He tightened his grip on her for a few seconds before releasing her and stepping back. “What do you think?”

 

Turning in a small circle, Draco spread his arms as much as possible in the tiny room. When he completed the circle, it was to find Pansy grinning at him.

 

“I think it’s obvious that Narcissa chose your clothing.”

 

“Because you know if it was left up to him, they both would have ended up in black and white.” The door opened to reveal Astoria grinning at the both of them. “Sorry, Pans, but I have to steal him.” She turned to face Draco fully, her smile, if possible, getting even wider. “It’s time.”

 

Almost as though the words had released something inside him, Draco's stomach flipped, his hands clenched by his sides and his heart began to hammer in his chest. Draco thought he had managed to hide his reaction from Pansy as she reached out to squeeze his hand before leaving the room, but he was unsure. He knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to hide it from Astoria and that was proven when she stepped inside the room and closed the door shut with a quiet click behind her.

 

“I am so proud of you, Dray.”

 

That brought him up short. Blinking at Astoria in confusion, Draco tried to force his mind into working through why she would say that, but he came up completely blank.

 

“What?”

 

“Of Harry too, really. The two of you have overcome so much together and I really think that you deserve this happiness; that you’ve earned it. So…”

 

She paused and fished the by-now quite familiar black case that Draco knew held the Black family heirlooms the boys had discovered. When Astoria flipped the lid open, however, only the female jewellery was left. Draco shot her a slightly puzzled look.

 

“Tori?”

 

“Harry’s wearing the cufflinks and he will be using the men’s ring for your wedding ring. I know the two of you were just going to use one of the old family rings, but I spoke to your Mother and she agreed with me that this is the better option. I think she likes the idea of you wearing a ring that’s been enchanted by an ancestor to protect the wearer.”

 

Staring down at the open box in Tori’s hands, Draco let out a small breath and closed his eyes. She had definitely managed to alleviate the nerves that had cropped up so suddenly, but this… He sighed and shook his head before forcing his eyes open again.

 

“I…” Unable to express everything that was beginning to rush through him, Draco bent to scoop her into his arms. “I love you, Tori.”

 

The laugh she let out in response was a little wobbly. “You’d better, after everything you’ve put me through over the years.” Pulling back, she dabbed at her eyes with the corner of a handkerchief before smiling up at him. “Come on. Harry’s waiting for you.”

 

*~*

 

In the pale blue and cream robes, Draco looked absolutely stunning. Glancing down at himself as he stood in the changing room, Harry figured that at least one of them would look good. True to his fears, he believed that the cream and gold robes Narcissa had chosen for him to wear made him look like a small child playing dress-up rather than a grown man on his wedding day. But he knew there was nothing for it at that stage. The soft music playing in the church changed slightly, indicating that the ceremony was about to begin just as he was beginning to fidget with the cuffs of his robes.

 

“I would ask that the congregation be upstanding, please,” the priest intoned, causing a very subtle murmuring to go up among the crowd.

 

Harry was quite tempted to simply stay standing at the door right where he was so he could continue staring at Draco – how the hell the bloody man could make every single thing look so damn _good_ was beyond Harry – but he knew that he would regret missing this first part of the ceremony. Lily had been absolutely insistent that she would be flower girl and, once the idea had gotten into her head, Harry hadn’t had the heart to refuse her. Especially considering Narcissa had come up with roles for both of her brothers. What Harry was extremely thankful for, however, was that in the confusion and mess the boys had caused, Lily seemed to have forgotten that she wanted to have Lucius’ peacocks to have a part in the ceremony as well. Harry grinned to himself when she appeared at the top of the aisle. Standing straight and proud, it was clear that Lily was enjoying being the centre of so many people’s attention. Narcissa had managed to find a set of robes small enough for Lily to wear that combined the pale blue of Draco's robes and the dark gold of Harry’s. The combination of colours probably shouldn’t have worked with Lily’s shock of Weasley red hair but, for some strange reason, it really did. Pride combined with a rush of pure happiness swirled rapidly through Harry’s chest as he watched his daughter walking down the aisle, spreading rose petals before her. The robes swirled around Lily’s feet as she walked, but they swirled even more when she reached the end of the aisle, turned and performed a sweeping curtsey to the congregation. Some members of the audience laughed and some applauded as Lily swept off to take her seat in the front row, causing Harry to shake his head.

 

“Always the performer that one, hey mate?”

 

Harry stepped back from the door and turned to face Ron. He thought that Narcissa was most likely grateful that he and Draco had decided that their attendants – Ron and James for Harry and Blaise and Scorpius for Draco – would be dressed in plain black. Ron was just adjusting the collar of his robes for roughly the thousandth time that morning and Harry could see James fidgeting in the corner of the small changing room, both of them looking incredibly nervous. Their nerves hadn’t been helping Harry at all that morning, but he knew there was nothing for it. Harry shot Ron what felt like an anxious grin.

 

“You ready?”

 

“Me? I’m not the one getting hitched! Are you sure _you’re_ ready?”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw James turn towards them, a curious look in his eyes. Harry grinned.

 

“I’m pretty sure I haven’t been this ready for anything in my life before this.”

 

“Alright then,” Ron responded without even a moment’s hesitation, which Harry found himself quite thankful for. “Let’s get you married, then.”

 

The ceremony itself was a bit of a blur to Harry. It wasn’t that he was overcome by nerves, or even that there was anything unforgettable about it at all, but more that he was anticipating one particular part of the ceremony. Everything seemed to sharpen in Harry’s mind when the priest finally reached it, though.

 

“Do you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, take this man to be your lawfully wed husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in happiness and sadness, till death do you part?”

 

It seemed to Harry that his entire nervous system flashed with an electric jolt when Draco glanced up to meet his eyes.

 

“I do.”

 

Harry was aware that a ridiculously wide smile spread across his face at the words, but he was completely unwilling to try to prevent it. Not even the slight tremble to Draco's hand as Harry slid the heirloom ring on his finger could dampen the exhilaration that coursed through his veins. The intensity of Draco's gaze sent a shiver straight down Harry’s spine strong enough that he almost missed the priest’s next words.

 

“And do you, Harry James Potter, take this man to be your lawfully wed husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in happiness and sadness, till death do you part?”

 

“I do.”

 

Harry was absolutely certain that he could hear a slight tremble to his voice, but that wasn’t what he was so focussed on. Draco's fingers were so warm when they grasped Harry’s so he could slip the same ring they had become engaged with back onto Harry’s finger. Neither of them had wanted a very elaborate ceremony, but when that choice had been taken away from them, they had both stood firm in the belief that they didn’t need to be weighed down with a ridiculous amount of jewellery. One ring was more than enough to satisfy Harry and he would be absolutely damned if he was going to give this one up, because it was the one Draco had originally chosen for him on Christmas day seven months prior. He found himself unable to stop staring into Draco's eyes as the priest spoke the next words.

 

“I now pronounce you legally married. You may kiss your husband.”

 

Harry’s entire body thrummed with excitement, joy and a deep-seated satisfaction the second Draco drew him into a soft kiss. His arms snaked automatically up and around Draco's shoulders, pulling them close together as a cheer went up in the congregation; one that sounded distinctly Weasley-like to Harry’s ears. He was smiling wide when they broke apart after only a few seconds.

 

“I love you, Harry.”

 

Draco's voice was so low that Harry had a hard time hearing him over the cheers. What he was saying was shining clear in his eyes and on his face, however. Harry’s cheeks were beginning to ache from all the smiling, but he let out a laugh as he drew Draco into another soft kiss.

 

“Love you, too, Dray.”

 

*~*

The planned reception was to be part-formal and part-informal, from what Draco could gather. He hadn’t had much to do with the planning of this particular part of the day, but he wasn’t too fussed on exactly what was to happen. He had his husband wrapped tightly in his arms on a darkened dancefloor and that was all that mattered at that particular moment in time. He shivered when Harry’s fingers traced a light pattern over the nape of his neck.

 

“Draco…” Harry drew the vowels out in a whisper that Draco could only just hear over the top of the soft music, causing him to shiver again. “I think Tori might be expecting you to ask to cut in with her dance.”

 

Draco couldn’t help snorting. “No.”

 

“‘No’? That’s it?”

 

Draco knew that his answer truly was as simple as that: he didn’t want to relinquish Harry to anyone else just yet. He knew it was incredibly poor manners, but at that moment, he really didn’t care. Harry was his in every way he could be now and there was no way he was letting go, not even if it was just for one dance. Not yet, anyway.

 

“She’s dancing with Roger, right?” It wasn’t really a question he needed to ask, as Tori had been practically joined at the hip with Roger Davies since they had begun dating a few months’ prior. He grinned when he felt Harry nod. “In that case, she can bloody well stay with him.”

 

He felt the vibrations of Harry’s laugh through his chest more than heard it over the sound of the music. It was another few minutes – and the beginning of another song – before Harry spoke again.

 

“I want to give the snake pendant we found in the attic to your Mother.”

 

Warmth rushed through Draco's limbs that had nothing to do with the fact that he was wearing three layers of clothing in the middle of summer. “You do?”

 

“Well, we probably shouldn’t ever mention the pile of cockroach droppings it was sitting under, but yeah, I do. It’s a piece of jewellery that obviously belonged to the Black family and, considering Narcissa and Andromeda are the last surviving female family members, I think one of them should own it rather than just have it sitting in a case in Grimmauld or the Manor where it won’t ever be worn.”

 

“Offer it to Andromeda first.” Harry froze in Draco's arms, but Draco wasn’t worried. Tightening his grip around Harry’s waist for a few seconds, he waited until Harry relaxed a little. “My Aunt doesn’t have anything to remember her family by other than what she was carrying with her when she was exiled. Mother has a whole houseful of memories and keepsakes, so I’m sure she wouldn’t care if her sister got one thing that she didn’t.”

 

Draco was prepared for Harry to pull back from the embrace a little, but what he wasn’t prepared for was to be pulled immediately into a bruising kiss. He his breath left him in a slightly frustrated sigh when Harry pulled back again the second he began to react.

 

“Harry?”

 

With the lights reflecting on his glasses and tinting the small streak of grey hair that ran along his temple different colours combined with the wide smile that had hardly left his face the entire day, Harry looked a little manic. Draco grinned in return when Harry’s fingers came up to brush against his left cheekbone.

 

“Have I told you recently how perfect you are?”

 

Draco couldn’t have prevented the laugh that escaped him even if he had wanted to. This was a sentiment that Harry had expressed on a number of occasions in the past and it never failed to amuse him. No matter what had happened in the past between them, it was a sentiment that Draco shared. Neither of them were absolutely perfect; that was impossible. What he did believe was that it was very possible to be perfect for each other. Harry loved him, respected him, and accepted him for who he was and what he had done. When he took into consideration everything that had happened between the two of them over the years – including the past few weeks – then he knew that they shouldn’t have lasted. Their complete acceptance of each other, however, was what sealed their relationship. Harry was perfect _for him_ and Draco would forever be thankful for that.

 

“No, but I don’t tell you how perfect you are anywhere near often enough, so I’d say we’re about even on that score.”

 

A peaceful kind of silence fell between them the second Harry had stopped laughing in response. Draco found that he was still unable to prevent himself from smiling, so he rested his head on Harry’s shoulder as they swayed slowly to the music. It, unfortunately, wasn’t long before a very feminine hand snaked its way onto Harry’s other shoulder. Draco only just prevented himself from sighing when he raised his head to see Astoria smiling at them.

 

“May I cut in?”

 

Just as Draco was reluctantly releasing his grip on Harry’s waist, Harry managed to shock him into freezing on the spot. With a quick shake of his head and a wide smile, Harry placed his hands over the top of Draco's on his hips, preventing him from moving them any further.

 

“I am so sorry, Tori, you know how much I would absolutely love to just give my husband up, but I’m afraid that I have to be incredibly rude and refuse you. I know it’s probably poor etiquette or something like that, but _he’s mine_.”

 

The sound of the surprised burst of laughter Tori gave in response was still ringing in Draco’s ears as Harry moved them out to the side of the dancefloor. Leaning in, he nuzzled into the crook of Harry’s neck and breathed deeply, taking in the scent of his oaky cologne.

 

_He’s mine_. The words buzzed through Draco's mind as he swayed in Harry’s arms; his _husband’s_ arms. As the minutes slowly passed and the night went on, Draco found a sense of pride welling in his chest. Yes, he was Harry’s and he was incredibly proud of that fact.


	40. Epilogue

The arrival of September signified several things to Harry. Firstly, that Lily was finally beginning her first year at Hogwarts. It almost felt as though she had been preparing for this moment since the second she had been born. Her trunk had been packed since the start of August – which Hermione had helped her with since Harry and Draco had been on their honeymoon – and she had groomed Bastet to within an inch of the poor cat’s life. Harry didn’t think he had seen anyone so ready to start school since Hermione. In fact, he found himself quite surprised that Lily hadn’t come bouncing into their bedroom at 6am to inform them that they only had _five hours_ to get up, dressed and to the station.

 

The second thing September signified to Harry was that it had been both six whole weeks since his and Draco’s wedding day, and an entire year since they had first gotten together. Well, he re-considered, _technically_ they had gotten together on September first. If you counted a quick round of hate sex while exchanging insults as the start of a relationship, that is. A wide smile spread across his face as the memory flashed through his mind of just how angry Draco had been with him for seemingly ignoring him while standing at a public urinal together. The revelation that had followed not long after was the biggest – and best – that Harry had ever had and had resulted in his current state of happiness–

 

“Are you just going to lie in bed all day?”

 

Stretching his arms above his head, Harry grinned at the canopy above him. “No.”

 

“Well then, move your arse, you lazy sod!”

 

Harry’s grin widened into a proper smile when the curtains surrounding the bed were flung open and several articles of clothing were tossed at him through the gap. The pale light coming in through the windows caught on Draco's hair, causing it to flash white for a second before he moved out of Harry’s line-of-sight again. Following the sudden urge that rushed through him to brush his hands through said hair, Harry hopped up out of the bed, leaving the offered clothing in a messy pile on the covers. Draco gasped when Harry wrapped his arms around his waist, drawing him into a tight embrace.

 

“Good morning to you, too.”

 

Nuzzling into the nape of Draco’s neck, Harry smiled again when he caught a glimpse of the last thing that the start of September signified to him: the return of Draco's autumn wardrobe. He would readily admit that not much changed when it came to the way Draco dressed, with the exception of one particular thing. Harry ran his fingers slowly up Draco's ribs, tracing them along the light grey pattern that had been sown into the waistcoat Draco wore over his regular white button-up shirt. He had absolutely no idea what it was about seeing Draco in a waistcoat, but it did things to Harry’s mind – and body – that were difficult to ignore. He sighed quietly when Draco leant back into his arms.

 

“Harry?”

 

Running one hand up through Draco's hair, Harry watched as his fringe flopped down into his eyes. “You need a haircut.”

 

Draco scoffed. “Bite me.”

 

“That wasn’t very nice.” Harry chuckled when Draco shrugged. “You’re grumpy this morning.”

 

“I’m not a nice person, Potter.”

 

“You’re full of it, Malfoy.”

 

“I’m going to miss them.”

 

Draco's voice was so low that Harry almost didn’t hear him. It was definitely a sentiment that Harry shared, though. One of Draco's hands came up to clench on Harry’s wrist as his arm moved to circle around Draco's waist. Slipping the hand that was in Draco's hair down to wrap around his shoulders, Harry held him close.

 

“I know, Dray. It’s only until December, though.” It was true: none of their children wanted to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break. That didn’t make their absence during the school term any better, however. “You dealt with Scorp’s absence quite well last year.”

 

“Mmm, there was a new development I was working on that was causing quite the distraction this time last year.”

 

“Oh, so now the truth comes out! This was a planned seduction, was it?”

 

Harry grinned when Draco let out a slightly embarrassed-sounding laugh and leant back further into his arms. When he turned his head to run his lips along the shell of Draco’s ear, it was to find that Draco had turned as well, causing their lips to meet briefly.

 

“No, I didn’t actually go out that day with the intention of ending up on the tiles of a public loo with you.” Draco paused so he could turn around properly in Harry’s arms, bringing them face-to-face. “I will admit that once you entered the restroom, my intention was to beat the shit out of you. I even had the door locked after you had only taken a few steps into the room. Seemingly being rejected yet again just tipped me over the edge that day, apparently.”

 

Wrapping his arms up around Draco's shoulders, Harry smiled. “So you’re saying that I should ignore you more often? It might actually improve the sex?”

 

Harry’s smile widened again when one of Draco's hands slipped down to grasp his arse. Memories of that first day a year previously flashed through his mind: the contempt on Draco's face, the shock of realising just how much he had wanted what Draco was offering, and the lust that had deepened Draco's voice almost beyond recognition. All of them flicked by quickly before Harry’s mind settled on their second encounter and the lust on Draco's face he had seen for the first time with his own eyes. Of course, he hadn’t known it was lust he was seeing; Draco had still been completely shut off to him at that stage. How much Draco had wanted him back then – and just how much those encounters had meant to him – had been clear, now that Harry knew what to look for, though. The white-hot need they shared didn’t seem to have dimmed in the least for either of them over the past year, despite the changes in their relationship.

 

“Are you complaining?” Draco let out a small chuckle when Harry put a bit of pressure on the back of his head and drew him into a soft kiss. “Because if you are…”

 

“You’ll keep me in here until I’m satisfied?”

 

“No, Harry, I’ll keep you in here until _I’m_ satisfied that you’ll stop complaining.”

 

Harry’s responding laugh was swallowed as Draco pulled him into another kiss. This one was much deeper and slower than what Harry had been expecting out of him the morning they had to be up and moving early enough to meet the eleven o’clock deadline for the train. He was just settling into the warm sensations running through him when the sound of the outer door of their suite being flung open dragged him back to reality.

 

“Dad! Are you awake yet?”

 

Instead of jerking away from Harry as had been his automatic reaction to being interrupted at first, Draco let out a long-suffering sigh as the sound of Lily’s voice drifted through the door. “ _This_ I won’t miss.”

 

Harry’s first instinct was to respond verbally, but he resisted the urge and merely reached up to brush his fingers across Draco's cheekbone instead. Draco's reaction was instant: his eyes fluttered closed and he leant into the touch briefly before seeming to come back to himself with a shake of his head. When Draco reopened his eyes, they held a warmth that had been a rare sight before the wedding, but which Draco hadn’t been bothering to try to hide recently.

 

“Don’t try and distract me.”

 

“I think we both know I don’t need to try.”

 

The laugh Draco responded with before shoving Harry off towards the bathroom was low and filled Harry with yet more warmth. Because the truth was, they both _did_ know just how easy it was for Harry to distract Draco that way. That part of their relationship had always come easy for them; it was the rest of it that they had had issues with.

 

The few weeks following their wedding had been… _interesting_ , to say the least. The little bumps in the road that Harry knew all blended families experience had seemed, at times, insurmountable to him. Of course, most blended families didn’t have to deal with having to punish three boys who had stolen from and lied to their Fathers, then led various cousins and friends astray in order to break into an old chamber using a potion made from potions they had stolen and altered. All in the name of giving the Fathers they had lied to and stolen from a good wedding present, of course. Harry rolled his eyes as he stepped into the spray of the shower. Watching his kids growing up, he had never thought that out of all of them, _Lily_ would be the easiest to deal with when it came to their teenage years.

 

Everything seemed to have settled down over the past six weeks, however. Or, it had as much as possible when it came to them: Lily still ran riot through either the Manor or Grimmauld, chasing after Bastet, James was still the model of teenage moodiness, and Al and Scorp still delighted in annoying the other two as often as possible. Hell, even Harry and Draco themselves were still learning to adjust to their living situation and the different set of rules that they had had to come up with out of necessity just before the wedding. But adjusting they were. Nothing was ever going to come easily for them, Harry knew that, but they were working on it and Harry believed that everything would work out. It would just take time.

 

Still, Harry was quite thankful that he hadn’t gone into this marriage thinking that nothing would ever go wrong, because he was certain that everything that had happened would have knocked him so off-balance that he wasn’t sure he could have recovered in time to salvage whatever he and Draco would have had left. Not that he thought that Draco wouldn’t have fought for him. In fact, Draco's loyalty to him was one of things in his life that Harry was absolutely certain of. It was just… Harry shook his head as he scrubbed the conditioner out of his hair.

 

He had been in a relationship – a real, _proper_ relationship – with Draco Malfoy for an entire year. _Draco Malfoy_. And he was actually happy about it. Deliriously happy, if he was to be completely honest. If his teenage self could see him now, he would probably have a bloody heart attack. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror when he stepped out of the shower and what he saw caused him to pause and lean in over the sink.

 

The grey streak that ran along his right temple was the first thing that always caught his attention, but that wasn’t what he focussed on this time. Leaning close to the glass, Harry took in the lines that had formed in the corners of his eyes and around his mouth. Slowly and deliberately, he smiled, watching as the lines around his mouth deepened and the ones at his eyes fanned outwards. _Laugh lines_. The idea had him smiling properly before he pushed back off the sink and cast a quick drying charm. Despite everything that had happened – including the revelation that he and Draco had been too focussed on whether the children would get along to see that they had actually skipped over some of the more important parts of their relationship – Harry was truly happy.

 

The smile didn’t leave his face as he pulled on the clothing that Draco had thrown at him. Nor did it leave him as he ran his hands through his hair in a failed attempt at tidying it, or as he shoved his glasses on his face and his wand into the holster on his jeans. It even widened a bit when he grabbed two coins and thrust them into his pocket in preparation for a little something he had planned for later that morning. And he didn’t want it to leave, either. He was finally happy, secure, and married to a man he loved more than he had thought it possible to love someone. This was so much more than he could have ever asked for in his life after the end of the War and he would be absolutely damned if he was going to let it go.

 

*~*

 

“You will look after the peacocks, won’t you?”

 

Lily’s hand tightened in Draco's as he helped guide her trolley through King’s Cross station. Bastet yowled loudly in the cage in Lily’s other hand, which she thankfully had a death grip on, as Draco really was not in the mood to be chasing a pissed off cat through the station.

 

“The peacocks will be fine, Lily.”

 

Draco paused to watch first Al, then Scorp push their trolleys through the barrier. Astoria followed shortly behind them, with James close on her heels. Glancing down when Lily tightened her grip on him yet again, Draco bit down on the inside of his lip to prevent himself from smiling. He waved Harry through the barrier before kneeling in front of Lily.

 

“It’s alright to be a little nervous, you know. I was on my first trip to Hogwarts as well.”

 

Lily turned to face him, her brown eyes wide. “You were?”

 

Draco found himself unable to prevent the smile any longer. “I was, but you know what helped?” He paused just long enough for Lily to shake her head, her eyes still wide. “My friends. I had two very good friends back then who were both starting Hogwarts at the same time I was. Having them by my side helped me to overcome the nerves I was feeling.”

 

It was partially true. Greg and Vince had helped to boost Draco's confidence when they were young, although probably not in the same way Lily’s friends were going to be able to help her.

 

“So…” Lily frowned when Bastet tried reaching out of the cage and swiping at her. She swatted back absentmindedly. “So what you’re saying is that if I go off and find Hugo and the others, then maybe I’ll feel a bit better? But what if that doesn’t work? What if I want to change my mind and go to Muggle school instead? Maybe Grandma can teach me magic? Or Dad? Or you?”

 

“Lily, Lily, slow down,” Draco chuckled as her voice increased in pitch with every suggestion. “You don’t have to resort to going to Muggle school.”

 

“But what if I _want_ to? Come on, Draco. You’re really smart; you could teach me what I need to know to keep my magic under control!”

 

Draco automatically drew Lily into his arms as her voice took on a slightly panicked tone. He ran a hand along her shoulders in an attempt to soothe her before she accidentally managed to allow a Muggle to hear what she was saying. Attracting the attention of the Ministry for violations of the Secrecy Act was something Draco had so far managed to avoid and he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of beginning now.

 

“Lily?

 

“I don’t want to leave, Draco.” The whispered words were slightly wobbly, causing Draco to tighten his grip around Lily’s shoulders. “What if… What if something happens while I’m not there? What if something happens and I don’t know and Dad’s just… _alone_?”

 

Draco's chest tightened with a sharp shot of pain at the desperate tone to Lily’s voice. “Lils, I would never just leave your Dad all alone.” Reaching up to untangle Lily’s hands from around his neck, Draco offered her a small smile. “I love him more than anything else in this world and I swear to you that, no matter what happens, he won’t ever just be left all on his own.”

 

Lily sniffed. “You’re sure?”

 

“I’m absolutely positive.”

 

The wide smile that spread across Lily’s face just before she threw herself back into Draco's arms had him smiling properly in return. “I love you, Draco.”

 

The tight sensation in Draco's chest melted completely at that, to be replaced with a warmth that he had only ever felt around Scorpius before. Giving Lily one last squeeze before she pulled back, Draco let out a slightly shaky breath.

 

“I love you, too, my Princess.” The warmth in his chest was spreading quickly through the rest of Draco’s body when Lily laughed in response. “Are we ready?”

 

After Lily nodded, Draco helped her to guide her trolley – with Bastet still yowling in her cage on the top of the trunk – through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. They found Harry waiting patiently for them on the other side.

 

“You alright?”

 

Draco took a deep breath and let it out slowly before nodding. “She just had a little bit of a meltdown. She’s fine now.”

 

“Draco, I can see that Lily is fine. I asked how _you_ are.”

 

One of Harry’s arms slipped around Draco's waist, holding him securely to Harry’s side. Instead of pulling away – breaking that habit was obviously still going to take a bit more effort on Draco's part – Draco watched Lily rush over to where the rest of the Weasley clan stood in a clump before turning to face Harry.

 

“I’m good.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

The concern in Harry’s eyes only increased the warmth that had been spreading through Draco's body. He nodded. “I’m certain.”

 

“You know, just a few months ago, the two of you would have been at least a foot apart for fear of attracting bad press.”

 

Draco didn’t even bother to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the sound of Ronald’s voice behind him. “Weasley. _Such_ a pleasure.”

 

The hand on Draco's hip tightened for a few seconds before Harry sighed and stepped away. “After watching the two of you actually getting along these past few months, do you really think you’re fooling anyone?”

 

“Old habits die hard.”

 

“I have to keep up appearances, mate, don’t I?”

 

Draco couldn’t help the small smile that spread across his face when Harry merely shook his head at the two of them. The truth was that he and Ronald had formed an extremely cautious… Well, Draco wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘friendship’. It was more of an acquaintanceship, if he really had to give it a name. The point was, he had made the effort, just as he had promised Harry he would, and now he and Ronald weren’t sniping at each other every chance they got. Draco definitely counted that as a win for him.

 

“Right.” The disbelieving tone to Harry’s voice caused an involuntary smile to spread across Draco's face. “Well, if the two of you don’t mind, I’m going to say goodbye to the kids.”

 

Draco followed slowly behind Harry, watching as groups of small families gathered together, the parents fussing over the children and the children either fidgeting to get away, or clinging to the parents. A loud shriek drew his attention and he focussed ahead of him. Scorpius’ Malfoy-blond hair was bobbing in amongst the sea of red caused by the Weasley offspring, right beside Albus and James’ shock of jet-black hair. They were the only contrasts to the red, now that Victoire and Teddy had left school. Draco had to smile as he came up beside Astoria, who stood alone, right at the edge of the crowd.

 

“Roger didn’t follow you to the station?”

 

“We aren’t joined at the hip, you know.”

 

“Could have fooled me.”

 

Draco grinned when she elbowed him in the ribs. The truth was that Tori had been spending more time at Roger’s flat than she had at the Manor for the past month. Draco had, of course, been wary of what this would mean for Scorpius, but things had been running fairly smoothly; at least when it came to this part of their lives. It seemed to Draco that Scorpius was just beginning to enter what appeared to be a rather rebellious stage, but he knew that Tori would be right there with him to weather whatever Scorp could throw at them. A quick glance up to the clock told him they only had five minutes to get Scorpius and his trunk loaded onto the train. Thankfully, he only had to call out once to grab his son’s attention.

 

“I’m going to miss you, Scorp!”

 

“ _Mum_ ,” Scorpius whined the second Astoria drew back from the embrace she had drawn him into. “Everyone can see us!” Scorpius’ cheeks were stained a dull pink when he tuned to face Draco.

 

“She’s right, Scorp.” Draco had kept his voice low, but he knew Scorpius had heard him when his head snapped up to meet Draco's eyes. The surprise he saw there caused Draco to kneel down in front of Scorpius so he could look him directly in the eye. “We will both miss you greatly.”

 

It took a few seconds for Scorp to seemingly get over the shock of Draco's words, but when he did, a wide smile broke over his face that had Draco smiling in response. With the blush deepening on his cheeks, Scorp ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“I’ll miss you too, Dad.”

 

The words were said so low and fast that Draco thought he may have misheard them, but when he chanced a glance up to Astoria, it was to see happiness shining brightly on her face. Placing a hand on Scorp’s shoulder, Draco rose to his feet again.

 

“Have a terrific time, Scorp.”

 

The bright smile on Scorp’s face almost matched that of the one on Astoria’s as she and Draco manoeuvred his trunk onto the train. Just as they had managed to get Scorp’s luggage settled into a carriage, James, Al and Lily appeared at Draco’s elbow. To Draco's shock, James held a hand out to him.

 

“Draco.”

 

He caught a glimpse of Harry grinning wide just off to James’ right, but Draco ignored him. Clasping James’ hand, he smiled.

 

“Have a good time, Jamie.”

 

Al treated Draco to the same, almost formal, goodbye, but Lily apparently didn’t have any qualms about showing exactly how she felt. Throwing herself forward, she wrapped her arms around Draco's shoulders, causing him to stagger back a step.

 

“I’ll miss you, Draco! Look after Dad for me!”

 

“You’ll do wonderfully, Lily. Write as often as you need.”

 

Once Lily released him, Draco automatically turned to Harry. Seeing Scorpius standing before Harry, their hands clasped together, sent yet another shot of warmth through Draco. Stepping over, he caught the end of the conversation Scorp and Harry were having.

 

“–and we’ll be seeing you all at Christmas.” Harry paused to grin at Draco over Scorpius’ shoulder. “I think it’s about time for you to be boarding, however.”

 

When Scorpius turned, it was with a brilliant smile on his face. Draco watched as his son made his way over to the train, almost bouncing as he called out to various friends. Harry’s hand landed softly in the small of Draco's back as they watched the train fill. Each of their kids ended up in one of two carriages, both of them full with Weasleys all talking and joking loudly. Without even thinking about it, Draco slipped an arm around Harry’s waist, holding him close.

 

Draco found that they didn’t need to speak as they watched the train; Harry seemed just as happy as he was to simply wave to the kids. He smiled at the various children who called out to him – there were many more this year than the previous one – until the whistle blew, signalling the train’s eminent departure. Draco stepped forward, his hand raised in farewell as the train began to move. The sound of the engine drowned out any words the children were calling out to various family members, but the messages were clear anyway. A sense of pride settled over him as the train pulled away from the station, carrying their children off to school.

 

“We did it.” Turning, Draco saw Harry grinning at him from back against the wall of the station. The second Draco moved up to join him, Harry’s arms stole around his waist. “Harry?”

 

“I’m proud of you, Draco.”

 

Draco smiled. “ _Us_. Be proud of us for managing to make it through this summer.”

 

With a quick glance around – which he immediately cursed himself for, for falling back into his old habits – Draco drew Harry into a soft kiss. The warmth that had been pooling in him all morning returned when Harry let out a soft sigh into the kiss.

 

“Are you coming home with me, or are you off to work?”

 

“Actually, there’s someone here I owe a debt to.”

 

Draco blinked in surprise when Harry pulled out of the embrace. Watching as Harry made his way over towards the public toilets, a sense of realisation began to dawn slowly in the back of Draco's mind. _Surely_ Harry couldn’t be speaking of… His thoughts were cut off abruptly when Harry reached into his pocket and threw something over towards him. Reacting instinctually, Draco reached out to catch the gold coin Harry had thrown. He stood and stared at it for a few seconds, expectation and excitement building inside him. His head jerked up when Harry spoke again.

 

“You’ll get the other half back once I’m satisfied.”

 

Grinning wickedly, Harry held up a second gold coin: the ‘payment’ Draco had made him a year previously after their first encounter in this very same bathroom. Shaking his head in disbelief, Draco stepped forward just far enough for Harry to be able to grasp a handful of his shirt.

 

“Happy anniversary, Dray.”

 

The whispered words sent a delightful shiver straight through Draco. He was unable to stop smiling as he followed his husband into the bathroom. It was looking to be a _very_ happy anniversary indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. Sorry for no warning that the last chapter was technically the last one, but this feels like a good time to end it.
> 
> A huge thank you to everyone who read, liked and commented on both this and 19 Years! It has been an amazing journey and it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for people requesting me to continue the one-shot 19 Years was supposed to originally be. I will say that I have had requests to continue the series with some mpreg, but I cannot guarantee that that will happen. I do have another one-shot in mind to finish it all off, though, so that will be posted some time in the New Year. I won't close the series off until I've decided what I'll do with it.  
> Thank you all again, and I hope you liked this final chapter! <3


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